CVE-2018-11485 in WooCommerce Quick Reports Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The MULTIDOTS WooCommerce Quick Reports plugin 1.0.6 and earlier for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored XSS. It allows an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript code on the WooCommerce -> Orders admin page. The attack is possible by modifying the "referral_site" cookie to have an XSS payload, and placing an order.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/11/2020
The MULTIDOTS WooCommerce Quick Reports plugin version 1.0.6 and earlier contains a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that poses significant risks to WordPress e-commerce environments. This vulnerability exists within the WooCommerce admin interface where user input from the referral_site cookie is not properly sanitized or escaped before being rendered in the orders page. The flaw allows attackers to execute malicious JavaScript code within the context of other users' browsers who view the compromised admin page, making it particularly dangerous for administrators with elevated privileges.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability requires an attacker to manipulate the referral_site cookie value with malicious JavaScript payload before placing an order through the WooCommerce platform. When the order is processed, the malicious code gets stored in the system and subsequently displayed on the WooCommerce Orders admin page without proper output encoding. This creates a persistent XSS vector where any administrator or authorized user who views the orders page will execute the injected script in their browser context. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output sanitization practices within the plugin's code implementation, specifically failing to apply proper HTML escaping mechanisms when displaying user-supplied data.
The operational impact of this stored XSS vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can lead to complete administrative compromise of affected WordPress installations. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of administrators, redirect users to malicious sites, or extract sensitive data from the WooCommerce environment. The persistent nature of stored XSS means that the malicious payload remains active until manually removed from the system, potentially affecting multiple users over extended periods. This vulnerability particularly threatens e-commerce environments where administrators have access to sensitive financial data, customer information, and system configuration settings.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies including plugin updates to versions that address the XSS vulnerability, implementation of web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious cookie values, and regular security auditing of installed plugins. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1059.007 for script execution through web interfaces. Additionally, implementing Content Security Policy headers and regular security monitoring can provide defense-in-depth measures against similar vulnerabilities. System administrators should also consider restricting cookie manipulation through server-side configurations and implementing proper input validation at multiple layers of the application architecture to prevent such injection attacks from succeeding.