CVE-2022-1644 in Call&Book Mobile Bar Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/30/2022
The Call&Book Mobile Bar WordPress plugin through 1.2.2 does not sanitize and escape some of its settings, which could allow high privilege users such as admin to perform Cross-Site Scripting attacks even when unfiltered_html is disallowed.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 06/04/2022
The CVE-2022-1644 vulnerability affects the Call&Book Mobile Bar WordPress plugin version 1.2.2 and earlier, representing a critical cross-site scripting flaw that undermines the security of WordPress installations. This vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization and escaping of user-controllable input within the plugin's administrative settings, creating a pathway for malicious actors to inject harmful scripts into the WordPress admin interface. The flaw is particularly concerning because it specifically targets high-privilege users such as administrators, who typically possess elevated permissions and access to sensitive system functions.
The technical nature of this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which classifies cross-site scripting as a common web application security weakness. The plugin fails to properly validate and sanitize input parameters that are processed within its settings management system, allowing attackers to store malicious scripts in configuration values. Even when WordPress installations have the unfiltered_html capability disabled for administrators, this vulnerability persists because the plugin does not implement proper output escaping mechanisms. This creates a scenario where an attacker with admin privileges can execute XSS payloads that can compromise the entire WordPress installation, potentially leading to complete system takeover.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to perform a range of malicious activities including session hijacking, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation within the WordPress environment. The vulnerability's exploitation requires an attacker to already possess administrative access or the ability to compromise an admin account, but the flaw significantly amplifies the damage potential once achieved. The XSS payload can be executed in the context of the admin's browser session, allowing attackers to perform actions such as modifying plugin settings, creating new administrator accounts, or extracting sensitive information from the WordPress database through the compromised admin interface.
Security mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-1644 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the sanitization and escaping deficiencies. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures such as regular security audits of WordPress plugins, monitoring for unauthorized changes to plugin settings, and maintaining comprehensive backup strategies. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of input validation and output escaping practices in web application development, particularly for administrative interfaces where privilege levels are elevated. Security professionals should consider implementing web application firewalls and content security policies to provide additional layers of protection against potential exploitation attempts, while also ensuring that WordPress core and plugin updates are maintained regularly to address known vulnerabilities. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under the T1059.001 technique for command and scripting interpreter, as the XSS payload could potentially be used to execute malicious commands through the compromised administrative interface.