CVE-2022-2373 in Simply Schedule Appointments Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 08/29/2022
The Simply Schedule Appointments WordPress plugin before 1.5.7.7 is missing authorisation in a REST endpoint, allowing unauthenticated users to retrieve WordPress users details such as name and email address
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/09/2022
The Simply Schedule Appointments WordPress plugin version 1.5.7.6 and earlier contains a critical authorization flaw in its REST API endpoint that exposes sensitive user information to unauthenticated attackers. This vulnerability falls under the category of insufficient authorization as defined by CWE-863, where the plugin fails to properly verify user permissions before allowing access to restricted data. The flaw specifically affects the plugin's REST endpoint implementation which should require proper authentication but instead permits any user to query and retrieve WordPress user details including names and email addresses without any form of access control verification.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from improper input validation and access control mechanisms within the plugin's REST API framework. When an attacker makes a request to the affected endpoint, the system does not perform adequate authentication checks to determine if the requester has sufficient privileges to access the user information. This creates a data exposure scenario where sensitive user metadata becomes publicly accessible through the WordPress REST API. The vulnerability directly impacts the confidentiality aspect of the CIA triad as it allows unauthorized disclosure of user information that should remain protected within the WordPress user management system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables attackers to harvest user credentials and personal information from WordPress installations that utilize the affected plugin. Attackers can systematically enumerate user accounts and collect email addresses which can then be used for social engineering campaigns, credential stuffing attacks, or phishing operations. This information leakage creates additional attack vectors for threat actors who may leverage the collected data for further exploitation attempts. The vulnerability also violates several ATT&CK techniques including T1087.001 for account discovery and T1566 for social engineering, as it provides the foundational data required for these attack vectors.
Security professionals should immediately update to version 1.5.7.7 or later which includes proper authorization checks for the affected REST endpoint. The mitigation strategy involves implementing robust authentication mechanisms that verify user credentials before granting access to user data through the REST API. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive audits of their WordPress plugin ecosystem to identify similar authorization flaws in other third-party components. Network monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns of REST API requests that may indicate enumeration attempts against the vulnerable endpoint. Additionally, administrators should consider implementing rate limiting and access control rules at the web application firewall level to prevent automated harvesting of user information through the exposed API endpoint.