CVE-2023-0764 in Gallery Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/17/2023
The Gallery by BestWebSoft WordPress plugin before 4.7.0 does not perform proper sanitization of gallery information, leading to a Stored Cross-Site Scription vulnerability. The attacker must have at least the privileges of the Author role.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/07/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-0764 affects the Gallery by BestWebSoft WordPress plugin version 4.7.0 and earlier, presenting a significant security risk through a stored cross-site scripting flaw. This weakness stems from inadequate sanitization of gallery information within the plugin's processing pipeline, allowing malicious actors to inject harmful scripts that persist in the system. The vulnerability specifically targets the plugin's handling of user-generated content related to gallery configurations and media management, creating an attack surface where malicious payloads can be stored and executed when other users access the affected gallery pages.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the plugin's failure to properly validate and sanitize input parameters that are subsequently stored in the WordPress database and later rendered in web pages without adequate escaping mechanisms. When gallery information is processed, the plugin accepts user input containing HTML or JavaScript code without sufficient filtering or encoding, enabling attackers to embed malicious scripts that execute in the context of other users' browsers. This stored XSS vulnerability operates through the typical attack vector where malicious code is injected during the creation or modification of gallery elements and then executed whenever legitimate users view the affected gallery content.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-0764 is particularly concerning given that the vulnerability requires only author-level privileges to exploit, making it accessible to users who can create or modify content within the WordPress environment. This low privilege requirement significantly increases the attack surface and potential for exploitation within compromised WordPress installations. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to steal session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, deface gallery pages, or execute other malicious activities that could compromise user data and system integrity. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious scripts remain persistent in the system until manually removed, creating ongoing security risks for all users who access the affected gallery content.
From a cybersecurity perspective, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in web applications, and it maps to attack techniques within the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the T1059.002 sub-technique for command and scripting interpreter. The weakness demonstrates poor input validation and output encoding practices that are fundamental to preventing XSS attacks in web applications. Organizations should immediately update to version 4.7.0 or later of the Gallery by BestWebSoft plugin to remediate this vulnerability. Additionally, administrators should implement proper access controls and monitoring to detect unauthorized modifications to gallery content, while also considering the deployment of web application firewalls and content security policies to provide additional defense-in-depth measures against similar vulnerabilities in other components of the WordPress ecosystem.