CVE-2023-48288 - How a Sensitive Data Leak in JobWP Plugin Could Expose Your WordPress Job Board

If you run a job board on your WordPress site using the popular JobWP plugin, you need to know about CVE-2023-48288. This critical vulnerability, found in versions up to 2.1 (and maybe earlier), could leak private information, hurting both site admins and users. In this long read, we’ll break down what happened, show a code example, explain how attackers can exploit it, and provide steps to secure your website.

What Is CVE-2023-48288?

CVE-2023-48288 is an “Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor” flaw. In plain words: the plugin failed to properly control access to certain sensitive data endpoints. As a result, anyone (even without an account or special role) could download private applicant information such as names, emails, resumes, and more.

Impacted software:
- HM Plugin WordPress Job Board and Recruitment Plugin – JobWP: all versions *before* and including 2.1 (possibly earlier untracked versions).

Risk level:
- Critical — Information leak can lead to privacy violations, phishing, identity theft, or even legal trouble for your business.

How the Bug Happens

JobWP uses AJAX (background HTTP) requests to fetch applicant data for admins. Normally, a check is needed to restrict these AJAX calls, but in the vulnerable version, that check is missing or broken.

Below is a simplified version of how a handler in the plugin might look in versions <= 2.1

// This should check permissions, but it doesn't!
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_jobwp_get_applicants', 'jobwp_get_applicants'); // accessible by anyone

function jobwp_get_applicants() {
    global $wpdb;

    $applicants = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->prefix}jobwp_applicants");

    // Returns sensitive data as JSON!
    echo json_encode($applicants);
    wp_die();
}

Exploit Details: How Attackers Take Advantage

Exploiting this vulnerability is trivially easy — no authentication or special skills needed. Here’s how it might go:

Attacker identifies a target site running JobWP <= 2.1.

2. They send a direct AJAX query to the exposed endpoint (often at /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php).

Simple Exploit Example (using cURL)

curl -X POST -d "action=jobwp_get_applicants" https://yourtargetsite.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php

The output will include details of every applicant: names, emails, CV attachments, phone numbers, and more (whatever the plugin stores in the applicants table).

> Note: Real-world attacks can be automated and scaled. Once this bug became public, bots started scanning for vulnerable WordPress sites.

Official References

- NVD: CVE-2023-48288
- WPScan Advisory
- Plugin description (WordPress.org)

Step 1: Upgrade Immediately

- The plugin author has patched the bug in later versions. Update JobWP to the latest version (at least 2.2 or newer).

Step 3: Harden Your WordPress

- Restrict access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php (with security plugins or .htaccess rules).

Step 4: Notify Affected Users

- If you suspect data was leaked, you may need to inform users/applicants by law or ethics.

Check logs for hits to admin-ajax.php with the action parameter referencing JobWP functions.

- Install a WordPress security plugin to monitor and alert suspicious IPs/request patterns.

Conclusion

CVE-2023-48288 teaches a painful lesson: plugins handling user data must follow the *principle of least privilege* — only admins should see sensitive content. If you use the JobWP job board/recruitment plugin, patch right away, audit your data, and warn users if needed.

Security matters. Don’t let a simple plugin bug become your company’s nightmare headline.


For more details:
- Official plugin changelog (WordPress.org)
- WPScan vulnerability entry

Timeline

Published on: 12/21/2023 14:15:08 UTC
Last modified on: 12/29/2023 03:27:57 UTC