CVE Vulnerabilities

CVE-2021-24859

Improper Access Control

Published: Dec 13, 2021 | Modified: Nov 21, 2024
CVSS 3.x
4.3
MEDIUM
Source:
NVD
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
CVSS 2.x
4 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:N/A:N
RedHat/V2
RedHat/V3
Ubuntu
root.io logo minimus.io logo echo.ai logo

The User Meta Shortcodes WordPress plugin through 0.5 registers a shortcode that allows any user with a role as low as contributor to access other users metadata by specifying the user login as a parameter. This makes the WP instance vulnerable to data extrafiltration, including password hashes

Weakness

The product does not restrict or incorrectly restricts access to a resource from an unauthorized actor.

Affected Software

NameVendorStart VersionEnd Version
User_meta_shortcodesUser_meta_shortcodes_project*0.5 (including)

Extended Description

Access control involves the use of several protection mechanisms such as:

When any mechanism is not applied or otherwise fails, attackers can compromise the security of the product by gaining privileges, reading sensitive information, executing commands, evading detection, etc. There are two distinct behaviors that can introduce access control weaknesses:

Potential Mitigations

  • Compartmentalize the system to have “safe” areas where trust boundaries can be unambiguously drawn. Do not allow sensitive data to go outside of the trust boundary and always be careful when interfacing with a compartment outside of the safe area.
  • Ensure that appropriate compartmentalization is built into the system design, and the compartmentalization allows for and reinforces privilege separation functionality. Architects and designers should rely on the principle of least privilege to decide the appropriate time to use privileges and the time to drop privileges.

References