CVE-2023-41954 Scanner

ProfilePress is a popular membership and user profile management plugin for WordPress, frequently utilized by developers and website administrators to handle user registrations and profiles smoothly. It is harnessed primarily by WordPress site owners looking to offer restricted content based on user roles, providing a straightforward setup for members-only sections. With its versatile range of features, ProfilePress allows for easy form creation, custom fields addition, and conditional logics implementation. As an integral part of many websites, especially those reliant on user interaction spaces, it supports various forms of user management, from registration to profile updates and role assignments. Its integration capability with several third-party applications and plugins further enhances its functionality across different web environments. Ultimately, ProfilePress serves as a crucial utility in refined user management solutions and automation within WordPress ecosystems.

The Privilege Escalation vulnerability in ProfilePress versions <= 4.13.1 allows malicious actors to gain unauthorized access to restricted features or data. Privilege escalation vulnerabilities involve a trusted entity being conferred with elevated permissions beyond its intended scope, often due to inadequate checks. In ProfilePress, this flaw results from insufficient privilege management controls, allowing non-privileged users to execute functions meant for higher-privileged users. Such vulnerabilities are critical, especially in environments requiring strict access control, as they can compromise sensitive operations and data confidentiality. The weakness typically manifests due to an oversight in role-checking mechanisms or logic within the plugin's code execution paths. Entities exploiting this flaw may manipulate registration processes or HTTP parameters to successfully gain elevated access rights.

This vulnerability stems from the improper handling of privilege management in the affected versions of ProfilePress, specifically manifesting within its user registration and role assignment functions. The vulnerable endpoint is the POST' request sent to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php', which inadequately ensures proper privilege checks. By sending crafted HTTP requests and manipulating parameters like 'reg_select_role', attackers can potentially register accounts with escalated privileges. The requests utilize multipart form-data to communicate crucial user information, exploiting the inadequate validation processes. Matchers utilize responses such as "Registration successful" and valid JSON response types in confirming the vulnerability exploitability. Consequently, the exploitation process is dependent on utilizing crafted POST requests with concatenated role credentials to gain unauthorized control.

Exploitation of the Privilege Escalation vulnerability in ProfilePress could lead to unauthorized data access and execution of administrative functions by attackers, significantly compromising the affected system. The potential effects encompass unauthorized content modification, disclosure of sensitive information, and possibly the complete compromise of the WordPress site's data integrity. Attackers could perform administrative functions, including adding, editing, or deleting content, thereby manipulating the website's normal operations. It could also facilitate further attacks due to the control granted to the adversary, possibly leading to data exfiltration or malware installation. In dynamic websites reliant on role-based access control, exploiting such vulnerabilities may grant attackers elevated privileges, unraveling the security posture of web applications and leading to loss of consumer trust.

REFERENCES

• https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/wp-user-avatar/wordpress-profilepress-plugin-4-13-1-unauthenticated-limited-privilege-escalation-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
• https://infosecwriteups.com/cve-2023-41954-profilepress-4-13-1-unauthenticated-privilege-escalation-fa781b778d59
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-41954