A newly discovered security vulnerability, identified under the code CVE-2023-45631, has been found to affect the popular WordPress plugin wpdevart Responsive Image Gallery, Gallery Album. The plugin, used for creating responsive galleries and organizing photo albums on websites running on the WordPress content management system (CMS), is used by numerous site owners and developers. This vulnerability poses a significant risk by potentially allowing attackers to exploit incorrectly configured Access Control Security Levels and gain unauthorized access to content and data within these galleries.
The missing authorization vulnerability specifically affects versions of the plugin from n/a through 2..3, and it has been flagged as a critical issue that must be addressed. In this post, we delve into the details of the vulnerability, share code snippets that illustrate the problem, provide links to original references, and discuss potential exploit scenarios.
Code Snippet
The vulnerability in the wpdevart Responsive Image Gallery, Gallery Album plugin arises due to insufficient validation of user roles and permissions when accessing specific functions, as illustrated below:
function save_gallery_data(){
// ... code that performs gallery operation
}
It can be seen that the code does not check if the user has the necessary access rights or perform an authorization check, thus creating a security lapse.
Fix:
The appropriate way to fix the vulnerability is to include capabilities and nonce checks, as shown below:
function save_gallery_data(){
if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
wp_die(__('You do not have sufficient permissions to perform this action.'));
}
if (!wp_verify_nonce($_POST['_wpnonce'], 'save_gallery_action')) {
wp_die(__('Security check failed.'));
}
// ... code that performs gallery operation
}
This updated version of the code will now ensure that only users with the correct access rights are able to perform the gallery operations, effectively fixing the vulnerability.
Exploit Details
An attacker who discovers this vulnerability can potentially perform a variety of unauthorized actions, such as:
Viewing and exploiting private galleries and albums that are not intended for public access.
Such unauthorized activities can result in data loss, defacement of the website, exposure of sensitive information, and damage to the website owner's reputation.
Original References
- CVE-2023-45631: https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2023-45631
- wpdevart Responsive Image Gallery, Gallery Album: https://wordpress.org/plugins/gallery-album/
Conclusion
As the wpdevart Responsive Image Gallery, Gallery Album is a popular plugin in the WordPress ecosystem, website owners and developers are strongly advised to apply necessary patches or updates as soon as possible to mitigate the risks associated with this CVE-2023-45631 vulnerability. Staying vigilant and keeping abreast of security updates should be a top priority for anyone responsible for maintaining a website built on WordPress and using third-party plugins.
Timeline
Published on: 01/02/2025 12:15:09 UTC