CVE-2016-10935 in woocommerce-exporter Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The woocommerce-exporter plugin before 1.8.4 for WordPress has privilege escalation.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/04/2023
The CVE-2016-10935 vulnerability affects the woocommerce-exporter plugin version 1.8.3 and earlier in the WordPress ecosystem, representing a critical privilege escalation flaw that allows unauthorized users to gain elevated system access. This vulnerability specifically targets the plugin's handling of user permissions and authentication mechanisms within the WordPress administrative framework. The flaw exists in how the plugin processes user roles and capabilities during export operations, creating a pathway for attackers to bypass normal access controls and execute actions beyond their intended permissions. The vulnerability is particularly concerning as it operates within a widely deployed e-commerce plugin ecosystem where administrators frequently perform sensitive operations including data exports, order management, and financial transaction processing. The issue stems from insufficient input validation and improper access control checks within the plugin's export functionality, allowing malicious actors to manipulate request parameters and escalate their privileges to administrator level access. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-284 which categorizes improper access control issues and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and privilege escalation through legitimate system access. The attack vector typically involves an authenticated user with lower privileges who can leverage the flawed export functionality to execute administrative commands through crafted requests that exploit the missing authorization checks.
The technical implementation of this privilege escalation vulnerability occurs at the plugin's backend processing layer where user requests are not properly validated against the current user's role and capabilities. During export operations, the plugin fails to perform adequate capability checks before executing administrative functions, allowing attackers to inject malicious parameters that trigger elevated privilege operations. The flaw manifests when the plugin's export handler does not verify that the requesting user possesses the necessary permissions to perform the specific export action being requested. This misconfiguration creates a persistent access control weakness that remains active as long as the vulnerable plugin version is installed, affecting all WordPress installations that utilize the woocommerce-exporter plugin. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it operates silently within the normal flow of legitimate export operations, making detection difficult for system administrators who may not immediately recognize that unauthorized privilege escalation has occurred during routine administrative tasks.
The operational impact of CVE-2016-10935 extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass potential data breaches, system compromise, and financial loss for affected e-commerce operations. Once an attacker successfully exploits this vulnerability, they can access sensitive customer information, manipulate order data, modify product catalogs, and potentially conduct fraudulent transactions. The administrative access gained through this privilege escalation allows attackers to modify plugin settings, install malicious code, and access other administrative functions within the WordPress environment. This vulnerability directly impacts the integrity and confidentiality of e-commerce operations, potentially exposing personal customer data, financial transaction records, and business-critical information. Organizations using vulnerable versions of the woocommerce-exporter plugin face significant risk of regulatory compliance violations, as the exploitation could lead to breaches of data protection regulations such as gdpr and pci dss. The attack surface is particularly broad since WordPress installations with this plugin are commonly found in production environments where they handle sensitive financial and personal data, making the potential impact of exploitation substantial.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2016-10935 require immediate action to update the affected plugin to version 1.8.4 or later, which contains the necessary security patches addressing the privilege escalation flaw. System administrators should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all installations of the vulnerable plugin and ensure that all instances are updated to the patched version. Additional defensive measures include implementing network segmentation to limit access to administrative interfaces, enforcing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts, and monitoring access logs for suspicious activities related to export operations. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block malicious parameter manipulation attempts that could exploit this vulnerability. The patch for this vulnerability specifically addresses the missing capability checks in the plugin's export functionality and ensures that all administrative operations properly validate user permissions before execution. Regular security auditing of WordPress plugins and themes remains essential to identify similar vulnerabilities that may exist in other components of the WordPress ecosystem. Security monitoring should include detection of unauthorized administrative access patterns and unusual export activity that could indicate exploitation attempts. Given the nature of this vulnerability, organizations should also review their overall WordPress security posture, including proper user management, regular updates, and implementation of security hardening practices to prevent similar privilege escalation issues in other components of their web applications.