CVE-2023-5292 : Vulnerability Insights and Analysis

This CVE-2023-5292 concerns a vulnerability discovered in the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin for WordPress, allowing for Stored Cross-Site Scripting attacks. The vulnerability exists in versions up to and including 0.8.9.3 due to inadequate input sanitization and output escaping on user-provided attributes.

Understanding CVE-2023-5292

This section will delve into what CVE-2023-5292 entails, its impact, technical details, and mitigation strategies.

What is CVE-2023-5292?

CVE-2023-5292 is a vulnerability in the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin for WordPress, which enables authenticated attackers with contributor-level permissions or higher to insert malicious web scripts using the 'acfe_form' shortcode.

The Impact of CVE-2023-5292

The impact of this vulnerability allows attackers to execute arbitrary code on a website when a user accesses a compromised page, compromising user data and potentially leading to further exploitation.

Technical Details of CVE-2023-5292

This section will cover the vulnerability description, affected systems and versions, and the exploitation mechanism.

Vulnerability Description

The vulnerability arises from inadequate input sanitization and output escaping in the 'acfe_form' shortcode of Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin for WordPress, enabling attackers to inject malicious scripts.

Affected Systems and Versions

The vulnerability affects versions of the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin up to and including 0.8.9.3.

Exploitation Mechanism

Attackers with contributor-level permissions or higher can exploit the vulnerability by injecting malicious web scripts using the affected 'acfe_form' shortcode.

Mitigation and Prevention

In this section, we will discuss immediate steps to take, long-term security practices, and the importance of patching and updates.

Immediate Steps to Take

Website administrators are advised to update the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin to version 0.8.9.4 or higher to mitigate the vulnerability. Additionally, revoking contributor-level and above permissions for untrusted users can help reduce the attack surface.

Long-Term Security Practices

Implementing robust input validation and output encoding practices, along with routine security audits, can help prevent similar vulnerabilities in the future.

Patching and Updates

Regularly updating plugins, implementing a web application firewall, and staying informed about security best practices are crucial to maintaining a secure WordPress environment.