CVE-2022-2839 in Zephyr Project Manager Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/03/2022
The Zephyr Project Manager WordPress plugin before 3.2.55 does not have any authorisation as well as CSRF in all its AJAX actions, allowing unauthenticated users to call them either directly or via CSRF attacks. Furthermore, due to the lack of sanitisation and escaping, it could also allow them to perform Stored Cross-Site Scripting attacks against logged in admins.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/29/2022
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2022-2839 affects the Zephyr Project Manager WordPress plugin version 3.2.54 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the plugin's authentication and authorization mechanisms. This weakness stems from the absence of proper access controls within the plugin's AJAX handling functionality, creating a pathway for unauthenticated attackers to exploit multiple endpoints without requiring valid credentials. The vulnerability's severity is amplified by the complete lack of CSRF protection measures, which means that attackers can leverage cross-site request forgery techniques to execute malicious actions on behalf of authenticated users. The flaw exists at the core level of the plugin's architecture where AJAX endpoints are exposed without proper validation of user permissions or session integrity checks.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability demonstrates a fundamental failure in input validation and output sanitization practices that aligns with CWE-352, which addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses, and CWE-79, which covers Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities. Attackers can exploit this flaw by crafting malicious requests that target the plugin's AJAX endpoints, bypassing normal WordPress authentication flows entirely. The absence of proper sanitization and escaping mechanisms creates an environment where malicious payloads can be stored within the plugin's data structures and subsequently executed when administrators access affected pages. This stored XSS vulnerability operates through the exploitation of CWE-79, where unfiltered user input is rendered in web pages without proper HTML escaping, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code into the application's response. The attack surface is particularly concerning as it targets administrators who are logged into the WordPress admin interface, making the potential impact significantly more severe.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it enables attackers to establish persistent footholds within WordPress environments through the manipulation of project management data. When administrators interact with pages containing the maliciously stored content, their browsers execute the injected scripts, potentially leading to session hijacking, data exfiltration, or further compromise of the WordPress installation. The vulnerability's exploitation can result in unauthorized modification of project information, creation of new user accounts, or even complete takeover of the administrative interface. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to multiple techniques including T1078 for valid accounts usage, T1566 for credential harvesting, and T1059 for command and scripting interpreter usage, as attackers can leverage the stored XSS to execute malicious code in the context of administrator sessions. The lack of proper CSRF protection means that attackers can craft malicious web pages or emails that, when visited by administrators, automatically perform actions within the WordPress environment without user consent.
Organizations utilizing the affected Zephyr Project Manager plugin should immediately implement mitigations including the immediate upgrade to version 3.2.55 or later, which contains the necessary authentication and CSRF protection patches. Additionally, administrators should review their WordPress plugin ecosystem for similar vulnerabilities and consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious AJAX requests. The vulnerability serves as a critical reminder of the importance of proper input validation and output escaping practices in web applications, particularly within content management systems where administrative interfaces are accessible to unauthenticated users. Security teams should conduct comprehensive audits of all installed plugins to identify potential similar weaknesses and ensure that proper authorization checks are implemented for all AJAX endpoints. The remediation process should also include monitoring for signs of exploitation, such as unauthorized modifications to project data or suspicious user activity patterns that may indicate successful XSS payload execution.