Cyber security scholars helped fix a security flaw in a popular Wordpress plugin, which allowed an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript scripts into the plugin's settings.
Discovered by WP security specialists at Wordfence, the vulnerability exists in the Variation Swatches plugin for WooCommerce, an extension of the popular WooCommerce plugin that lets online commerce sites display and sell multiple alterations of a single product.
The plugin has a user base of eighty installations that were affected by the Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability.
"This flaw allowed an attacker with low-level permissions, such as a subscriber or client to the service, to inject malicious JavaScript code that would be executed when a site administrator accessed the plugin's settings area," Chloe explains. Chamberland, Wordfence scholar.
Taking possession of the place
Chamberland claims that the vulnerability exists due to the fact that the plugin relies on multiple AJAX actions to drive configuration, which have not been safely incorporated. This allowed even the least authenticated user with minimal permissions to perform AJAX actions associated with fragile functions.
As always, malicious web scripts can be designed to inject new administrative user accounts or even alter a plugin or theme file to include a backdoor which in turn would give the attacker the ability to take control. total. Monitor a location," Chamberland claimed, commenting on the implications of the ruling.
The plugin developers fixed the flaw and released a patched version of the plugin, urging their users to make sure their installations are fully up to date.