Overview
A critical vulnerability has been discovered in the DWT – Directory & Listing WordPress Theme for WordPress, which can potentially allow unauthorized users to escalate their privileges via account takeover. This vulnerability is identified as CVE-2024-12827 and impacts all versions up to, and including, 3.3.6 of the mentioned theme. If exploited, attackers can gain access to the victim’s account, potentially leading to system compromise or data leakage. This is a significant vulnerability as it affects a vast number of WordPress websites using this theme, making it a critical cybersecurity issue that needs immediate attention.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2024-12827
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 9.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Impact: Account takeover, system compromise, and potential data leakage
Affected Products
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Product | Affected Versions
DWT – Directory & Listing WordPress Theme | Up to and including 3.3.6
How the Exploit Works
The vulnerability originates from an insufficient validity check in the dwt_listing_reset_password() function of the DWT – Directory & Listing WordPress Theme. The plugin does not properly check for an empty token value prior to resetting a user’s password. This allows an attacker to send a password reset request with an empty token value, which the function will mistakenly process, allowing the attacker to reset arbitrary user passwords, including those of administrators. Once the password is reset, attackers can easily access and take over the account.
Conceptual Example Code
Here’s a conceptual example of how an attacker might exploit this vulnerability. In this case, the attacker sends a POST request to the password reset endpoint with an empty token value:
POST /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=dwt_listing_reset_password HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
user_login=admin&rp_key=&rp_login=adminIn this example, the attacker targets the ‘admin’ account, using an empty ‘rp_key’ (reset password key), which should ideally be a random string generated by the server to authenticate password reset requests.
Mitigation Guidance
The ultimate solution to this vulnerability is to apply the vendor-provided patch. If the patch cannot be applied immediately, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can offer temporary mitigation. Monitor for any suspicious password reset requests and consider implementing additional safeguards, such as multi-factor authentication, to protect against unauthorized account access.