CVE-2019-14947 in ultimate-member Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The ultimate-member plugin before 2.0.52 for WordPress has XSS during an account upgrade.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/23/2023
The CVE-2019-14947 vulnerability affects the ultimate-member WordPress plugin, specifically versions prior to 2.0.52, and represents a cross-site scripting flaw that occurs during the account upgrade process. This vulnerability falls under the category of client-side attacks where malicious actors can inject arbitrary JavaScript code into the plugin's account upgrade functionality, potentially compromising user sessions and data integrity.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and output escaping within the plugin's account upgrade handling mechanism. When users attempt to upgrade their accounts through the ultimate-member plugin interface, the system fails to properly sanitize user-supplied data before rendering it in the web response. This creates an opportunity for attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of other users' browsers, particularly those who have elevated privileges or are authenticated within the WordPress environment.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform session hijacking, steal sensitive user credentials, manipulate account settings, and potentially escalate privileges within the WordPress installation. Attackers could leverage this flaw to target administrators or premium users who are upgrading their accounts, making the attack vector particularly dangerous in environments where privileged accounts exist. The vulnerability specifically affects the account upgrade functionality, which typically involves form submissions and data processing that occurs during user authentication or membership level changes.
From a security standards perspective, this vulnerability maps directly to CWE-79 - Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, which is a fundamental weakness in web application security that allows attackers to inject malicious content into web pages viewed by other users. The flaw also aligns with ATT&CK technique T1548.002 - Account Manipulation, as it enables unauthorized modification of user accounts and privileges through the exploitation of the upgrade process. The vulnerability demonstrates poor secure coding practices in input sanitization and output encoding that should be addressed through proper validation and escaping mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-14947 require immediate patching of the ultimate-member plugin to version 2.0.52 or later, which contains the necessary fixes for the XSS vulnerability. Administrators should also implement additional defensive measures including input validation at multiple layers, output encoding for all dynamic content, and regular security audits of WordPress plugins. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can provide additional detection and prevention capabilities, while monitoring systems should be configured to detect anomalous account upgrade activities that might indicate exploitation attempts. Security teams should also conduct thorough assessments of user permissions and account management processes to minimize the potential impact of successful exploitation.