WordPress Plugin Newsletter Information Disclosure Scanner

The WordPress Plugin Newsletter is used by website owners, bloggers, and businesses to manage and send newsletters to subscribers directly through their WordPress websites. It provides a user-friendly interface for creating and managing email lists, designing email content, and handling newsletter campaigns. Being a popular solution for communication, it supports customization and integration with other WordPress functionalities and plugins. As it is marketed towards users with varying levels of technical expertise, it aims to offer a simplified process for managing email communications. The plugin's popularity is due to its ease of use, rich feature set, and the ability to handle multiple newsletters efficiently. It is especially prevalent among WordPress site owners who want to maintain direct contact with their audience for information dissemination and marketing purposes.

Information Disclosure vulnerabilities in web applications typically allow unauthorized users to access sensitive information, which can be exploited for further attacks. This specific vulnerability within the WordPress Plugin Newsletter involves the exposure of sensitive server path information. The vulnerability occurs because the plugin's files are publicly accessible without ABSPATH protection. PHP error messages revealing server paths can be triggered when these files are accessed directly, which creates an information leakage risk. Such vulnerabilities can potentially expose the underlying infrastructure or be used for reconnaissance in preparation for more severe exploitation attempts. The risk is accentuated when detailed system pathways are revealed, often allowing attackers to understand a system's architecture better.

The technical details of the vulnerability highlight a lack of protective coding in the Plugin Newsletter's script files that allows direct access while generating PHP errors. When endpoints like '/wp-content/plugins/newsletter/admin.php' or similar are requested, and they encounter an unexpected error, detailed PHP error messages are returned to the user. These messages typically include sensitive information such as absolute paths within the server environment. The key factors at fault here are the lack of access restrictions and the reporting of errors without suppression, which should be secured to avoid such disclosures. The vulnerability is triggered when affected resources are accessed outside expected workflows.

If this vulnerability is left unaddressed, malicious actors could leverage the disclosed information to launch more targeted attacks, potentially leading to further unauthorized access and exploitation. It could enable attackers to tailor their strategies better, searching for further weaknesses and expanding their access. Exposure includes revealing server pathways for WordPress installations, presenting risks that could result in severe breaches, especially if coupled with other vulnerabilities or security misconfigurations. Therefore, protecting such path information is crucial to maintaining the integrity of the system and associated data.

REFERENCES

• https://wordpress.org/plugins/newsletter/