A critical vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2023-41848, has been discovered in the popular Carousel Slider plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability, known as Missing Authorization vulnerability, allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels in Carousel Slider, potentially allowing unauthorized access to vulnerable installations. The issue affects Carousel Slider versions from n/a up to 2.2.2.

Components affected

Product: Carousel Slider
Version: n/a - 2.2.2

Exploit details

The vulnerability arises due to the failure of Carousel Slider to implement appropriate authorization checks in its access control mechanism. This missing authorization check can be exploited by an attacker to access restricted functionality that should have otherwise been protected. This could potentially lead to unauthorized actions, including modifying or deleting existing slider content and creating new sliders with potentially malicious code.

As a proof of concept, an attacker could create a new slider by sending a specially crafted HTTP request, leveraging the lacking authorization checks. Here's an example of how the request might look like:

POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerable-site.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8
Cookie: (insert_cookie_here)
Content-Length: (insert_length_here)

action=carousel_slider_create_new_slider&security=(insert_nonce_here)
If successful, this request would create a new slider without properly verifying the privileges of the user initiating the request. The attacker can then embed malicious code in the newly created slider or modify existing sliders to compromise the integrity of the affected website.

CVE-2023-41848 Official Entry:

https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-41848

https://wordpress.org/plugins/carousel-slider/

Mitigation

Until the Carousel Slider author releases a fix for this issue, users are advised to follow these steps for mitigating the vulnerability:

2. If disabling the plugin is not an option, consider implementing strict access controls on the /wp-admin/ directory to limit unauthorized access to the administrative backend.

Conclusion

The CVE-2023-41848 vulnerability exposes WordPress websites using the Carousel Slider plugin to a potential security breach due to missing authorization checks. Website administrators are urged to disable the plugin or follow the suggested mitigation steps until an official patch is released to resolve the issue. Stay vigilant regarding updates and security advisories to maintain the security and integrity of your WordPress installation.

Timeline

Published on: 12/13/2024 15:15:24 UTC