CVE-2022-4477 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis

A Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability has been identified in the Smash Balloon Social Post Feed WordPress plugin before version 4.1.6, allowing contributors to execute XSS attacks against logged-in admins.

Understanding CVE-2022-4477

This vulnerability, assigned by WPScan, has the CVE ID of CVE-2022-4477 and falls under the CWE-79 Cross-Site Scripting category.

What is CVE-2022-4477?

The Smash Balloon Social Post Feed plugin, with versions less than 4.1.6, fails to validate and properly escape some shortcode attributes, enabling contributors to exploit this flaw for XSS attacks on admin users.

The Impact of CVE-2022-4477

This vulnerability poses a security risk by allowing low-privileged users to execute malicious script injections, potentially compromising sensitive information and functionalities of the WordPress site.

Technical Details of CVE-2022-4477

The technical details of CVE-2022-4477 include:

Vulnerability Description

The Smash Balloon Social Post Feed plugin does not adequately sanitize shortcode attributes, creating an opportunity for contributors to insert malicious scripts that get executed in the context of an admin user.

Affected Systems and Versions

The vulnerability affects all versions of the Smash Balloon Social Post Feed plugin prior to version 4.1.6.

Exploitation Mechanism

By leveraging this vulnerability, contributors can inject malicious scripts via specific shortcode attributes, exploiting the lack of input validation to execute XSS attacks.

Mitigation and Prevention

To address CVE-2022-4477, consider the following mitigation strategies:

Immediate Steps to Take

Admins should update the Smash Balloon Social Post Feed plugin to version 4.1.6 or newer to mitigate the XSS risk. Additionally, restricting contributor access levels can help reduce the attack surface.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly audit and review plugin code for security vulnerabilities. Implementing security headers, input validation, and output encoding can enhance overall WordPress site security.

Patching and Updates

Stay informed about security patches and updates for plugins. Timely installation of patches and version upgrades is crucial to address known vulnerabilities and ensure a robust defense against XSS exploits.