CVE-2022-2575 in WBW Currency Switcher for WooCommerce Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 09/16/2022
The WBW Currency Switcher for WooCommerce WordPress plugin before 1.6.6 does not sanitise and escape some of its settings, which could allow high privilege users such as admin to perform Stored Cross-Site Scripting attacks even when the unfiltered_html capability is disallowed (for example in multisite setup)
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/19/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-2575 affects the WBW Currency Switcher for WooCommerce WordPress plugin, specifically versions prior to 1.6.6. This issue represents a critical security flaw that undermines the plugin's ability to properly handle user input, creating opportunities for malicious actors to execute persistent cross-site scripting attacks. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it targets high-privilege users such as administrators, who possess elevated capabilities within the WordPress ecosystem. The flaw stems from inadequate sanitization and escaping of user-controllable settings within the plugin's configuration interface.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the plugin's failure to properly sanitize input data before storing and rendering it within the WordPress admin environment. When administrators configure currency switching settings through the plugin's interface, the input values are not adequately filtered or escaped, allowing malicious scripts to be stored persistently within the plugin's settings. This stored data is then executed whenever the affected settings are rendered in the admin interface or displayed on frontend pages that utilize the currency switching functionality. The vulnerability specifically impacts environments where the unfiltered_html capability has been restricted, such as multisite WordPress installations where security hardening measures are implemented to prevent arbitrary HTML injection.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple XSS exploitation, as it provides attackers with the ability to execute malicious code within the context of high-privilege admin sessions. This creates potential for complete compromise of WordPress installations, allowing attackers to modify plugin configurations, inject malicious code into user-facing pages, or even establish persistent backdoors within the affected systems. The implications are particularly severe in multisite environments where administrators may be managing multiple sites with varying security postures, as a successful exploitation could potentially affect multiple installations simultaneously. The vulnerability's persistence stems from the stored nature of the malicious scripts, meaning that even if the initial attack vector is closed, the malicious code continues to execute whenever the affected plugin settings are accessed.
Security mitigations for CVE-2022-2575 primarily focus on immediate remediation through plugin version updates to 1.6.6 or later, which incorporate proper sanitization and escaping mechanisms for user input. Administrators should also implement additional defensive measures including regular security audits of installed plugins, monitoring for unauthorized configuration changes, and ensuring that WordPress core, themes, and plugins remain up-to-date with the latest security patches. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which describes Cross-Site Scripting flaws, and represents a variant of stored XSS attacks that can be particularly dangerous when targeting privileged user accounts. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1547.001 (Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder) and T1059.001 (Command and Scripting Interpreter) as attackers could potentially use the XSS to establish persistent access or execute malicious commands within the compromised environment. Organizations should also consider implementing Content Security Policy headers and regular security scanning to detect similar vulnerabilities across their WordPress installations.