CVE-2024-0337 Scanner

The Travelpayouts plugin is widely used in WordPress websites for providing travel services like flights and hotels. It’s commonly implemented by travel agencies and bloggers seeking seamless integration with travel search options. The functionality helps users search travel deals and integrate travel-related offers within their websites. Due to its niche focus, Travelpayouts caters predominantly to users in the travel industry aiming to augment their digital service offerings. The plugin facilitates ease of use by allowing incorporation into existing WordPress setups with minimal technical requirements. As such, it attracts usage from small to medium-sized travel-focused platforms looking for robust solutions.

Open Redirect vulnerabilities allow malicious actors to redirect users to unintended, potentially harmful websites. When an application does not properly validate URLs before redirecting, it may lead to this security flaw. This vulnerability becomes critical as it opens possible channels for further attacks like phishing, session hijacking, or market exploitation. Unauthorized redirecting could lead users to pages that capture sensitive information or distribute malware. Given its nature, Open Redirect can undermine user trust, indicating significant risk when existing in widely-used software plugins. Exacting validation of redirects helps mitigate potential exploitations derived from this vulnerability type.

Technical analysis points to Travelpayouts, version <= 1.1.16, being susceptible via the "travelpayouts_redirect" parameter. The parameter lacks sufficient checks to ensure URLs are legitimate or intended, thus exposing a potential attack vector. An attacker could construct a specially crafted URL leading to unverified destinations, exploiting the lack of filtering on the redirect variable. During interaction, the Plugin follows such URLs under specific conditions, making redirects seamless yet unsecured. Methodical crafting of such requests, combined with social engineering, could amplify attack sophistication. Addressing such issues involves stricter validation protocols to counteract redirection misuse.

If exploited, the Open Redirect vulnerability could result in multiple security challenges. Users might end up on phishing sites designed to harvest personal or financial data. Additionally, redirected sites could attempt to download malicious payloads, potentially leading to device compromises. The damage extends to reputational harm for website owners, manifesting in loss of user trust or potential legal complications. Open Redirects disrupt standard web behaviors, thereby compromising the integrity of digital services offered by vulnerable platforms. The broader implications include possible cascading effects impacting users, organizations, and interconnected systems.

REFERENCES

• https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/2f17a274-8676-4f4e-989f-436030527890/
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-0337