CVE-2022-2565 in Simple Payment Donations & Subscriptions Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 09/05/2022
The Simple Payment Donations & Subscriptions WordPress plugin before 4.2.1 does not sanitise and escape user input given in its forms, which could allow unauthenticated attackers to perform Cross-Site Scripting attacks against admins
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/13/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-2565 affects the Simple Payment Donations & Subscriptions WordPress plugin, specifically versions prior to 4.2.1, creating a critical cross-site scripting exposure that poses significant risks to administrative users. This issue stems from inadequate input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms within the plugin's form processing functionality, allowing malicious actors to inject malicious scripts into user-facing interfaces. The vulnerability operates by failing to properly validate and sanitize data submitted through donation and subscription forms, which are typically designed to accept various user inputs including text fields, monetary amounts, and personal information. When administrators interact with these forms or view submitted data, the unsanitized input can execute malicious JavaScript code within their browser context, potentially leading to complete compromise of administrative sessions and system access.
The technical flaw represents a classic cross-site scripting vulnerability that aligns with CWE-79, which defines the weakness of improper neutralization of input during web page generation in a web application. This weakness occurs when user-provided data is directly incorporated into web page content without proper sanitization or escaping, creating opportunities for attackers to inject malicious scripts that can execute in the context of other users' browsers. The vulnerability specifically impacts the plugin's handling of form submissions where user input is not properly escaped before being rendered back to administrators, making it particularly dangerous as it targets privileged users who may have elevated system access. Attackers can exploit this by crafting malicious input containing script tags or other malicious payloads that are then executed when administrators view the affected forms or data tables.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to escalate privileges, steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions on behalf of administrators, and potentially gain full control over the affected WordPress installation. When administrators view forms containing malicious payloads, the scripts can execute in their browser context, potentially stealing authentication tokens, redirecting them to malicious sites, or performing actions such as creating new admin users or modifying plugin settings. The attack surface is particularly concerning because it targets the administrative interface where sensitive operations occur, and the vulnerability can be exploited without authentication, making it accessible to anyone who can submit data through the plugin's forms. This creates a persistent threat vector that can be exploited repeatedly, especially in environments where administrators frequently interact with donation and subscription data.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2022-2565 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to version 4.2.1 or later, which contains the necessary sanitization and escaping fixes. Organizations should also implement additional defensive measures including input validation at multiple layers, regular security audits of WordPress plugins, and monitoring for suspicious form submissions. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper input sanitization practices as outlined in OWASP Top Ten and other security frameworks, emphasizing that all user-provided data should be treated as potentially malicious and properly escaped before being rendered in web interfaces. Security teams should also consider implementing content security policies to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts, and establish procedures for regularly updating and monitoring third-party WordPress plugins to prevent similar vulnerabilities from being exploited in other components of the web application stack.