CVE-2019-15823 in wps-hide-login Plugin
Summary
by MITRE
The wps-hide-login plugin before 1.5.3 for WordPress has an action=confirmaction protection bypass.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/11/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-15823 affects the wps-hide-login plugin for WordPress systems prior to version 1.5.3, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the plugin's intended protection mechanisms. This plugin is designed to hide WordPress login pages and provide additional security layers for site administrators, making the vulnerability particularly concerning for WordPress environments that rely on such protective measures. The issue manifests through a protection bypass mechanism that allows unauthorized users to circumvent the intended security controls.
The technical flaw resides in the plugin's handling of the action=confirmaction parameter, which is intended to validate and confirm user actions before granting access to restricted functionalities. This weakness enables attackers to exploit a logic flaw in the authentication flow, allowing them to bypass the confirmation mechanism that should validate user credentials and permissions. The vulnerability essentially creates an unauthorized access path that undermines the core security model of the plugin, potentially enabling attackers to gain administrative privileges or access restricted areas of the WordPress installation. This bypass occurs due to insufficient input validation and inadequate state management within the plugin's action handling routines.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it represents a complete breakdown in the plugin's security architecture and could lead to full system compromise. Attackers exploiting this vulnerability could potentially escalate privileges, gain administrative control over WordPress sites, and execute arbitrary code within the context of the web application. This represents a significant risk to WordPress installations that depend on the wps-hide-login plugin for additional security layers, particularly in environments where the plugin serves as a primary defense mechanism against automated attacks and brute force attempts. The vulnerability affects the integrity and confidentiality of the entire WordPress ecosystem, as successful exploitation could result in data breaches, site defacement, or complete system takeover.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate plugin updates to version 1.5.3 or later, which contain the necessary patches to address the protection bypass vulnerability. Organizations should also implement additional security measures including web application firewalls, rate limiting for authentication attempts, and monitoring for suspicious activities related to login page access patterns. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which addresses inadequate access control, and can be mapped to ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1133 for external remote services, as attackers could leverage this flaw to establish persistent access to WordPress administrative interfaces. Security teams should conduct comprehensive vulnerability assessments to identify all instances of the affected plugin version and ensure proper patch management protocols are in place to prevent similar issues from occurring in other WordPress plugins or components.