CVE-2020-36725 in TI WooCommerce Wishlist Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 06/07/2023
The TI WooCommerce Wishlist and TI WooCommerce Wishlist Pro plugins for WordPress are vulnerable to an Options Change vulnerability in versions up to, and including, 1.21.11 and 1.21.4 via the 'ti-woocommerce-wishlist/includes/export.class.php' file. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers to gain otherwise restricted access to the vulnerable blog and update any settings.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 07/05/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2020-36725 affects two popular WordPress plugins developed by ThemeIsle: the TI WooCommerce Wishlist and TI WooCommerce Wishlist Pro. These plugins are widely used by e-commerce websites to enable customers to create and manage wishlists of products. The vulnerability resides within the export.class.php file and represents a critical authorization bypass flaw that allows authenticated attackers to escalate their privileges and modify critical system settings. This issue impacts versions up to and including 1.21.11 for the standard plugin and 1.21.4 for the pro version, making it a widespread concern for WordPress installations using these components.
The technical flaw stems from inadequate input validation and insufficient access control mechanisms within the plugin's export functionality. When authenticated users interact with the export.class.php file, the system fails to properly verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary administrative privileges to modify core plugin settings. This weakness creates a pathway for privilege escalation where attackers can manipulate the system to perform actions that should be restricted to administrators only. The vulnerability specifically targets the plugin's options handling mechanism, allowing malicious actors to modify configuration parameters that control various aspects of the wishlist functionality and potentially impact the broader WordPress installation.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables authenticated attackers to gain unauthorized access to restricted administrative functions within the WordPress environment. Once exploited, attackers can modify plugin settings, potentially altering product visibility, user access controls, or other critical configurations that affect the e-commerce operations. This vulnerability essentially allows threat actors to compromise the integrity of the website's configuration management system and could lead to more severe consequences including data manipulation, unauthorized content changes, or the potential for further attacks within the compromised environment. The implications extend beyond just the wishlist functionality as these modified settings could affect other interconnected systems within the WordPress ecosystem.
Security professionals should immediately update both the TI WooCommerce Wishlist and TI WooCommerce Wishlist Pro plugins to their latest versions to remediate this vulnerability. Organizations should also implement network monitoring to detect any suspicious administrative activities that might indicate exploitation attempts. According to CWE standards, this vulnerability maps to CWE-284 which describes improper access control, and aligns with ATT&CK techniques related to privilege escalation and credential access. Regular security audits of WordPress plugins and themes should be conducted to identify similar authorization bypass vulnerabilities, with particular attention to plugins handling user data or administrative functions. The incident underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and implementing proper access controls even within seemingly benign plugin functionalities.