CVE-2023-3936 in Blog2Social Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 08/21/2023
The Blog2Social WordPress plugin before 7.2.1 does not sanitise and escape a parameter before outputting it back in the page, leading to a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting which could be used against high privilege users such as admin
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/14/2023
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-3936 affects the Blog2Social WordPress plugin version 7.2.0 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that exposes systems to reflected cross-site scripting attacks. This issue arises from improper input validation and output sanitization within the plugin's codebase, creating a pathway for malicious actors to inject arbitrary script code into web pages viewed by users. The vulnerability specifically occurs when the plugin fails to properly sanitise and escape a parameter before incorporating it back into the HTML output, allowing attackers to manipulate the application's behavior through crafted input vectors.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from a lack of proper input validation mechanisms within the plugin's processing logic. When user-supplied parameters are received through HTTP requests, they are not adequately filtered or escaped before being rendered back to the browser. This creates a reflected XSS condition where malicious scripts can be executed in the context of the victim's browser session. The flaw is particularly concerning because it can target high-privilege users such as administrators, making it a significant threat to WordPress site security. Attackers can craft malicious URLs that, when clicked by an admin user, would execute malicious JavaScript code in the admin context, potentially leading to complete system compromise.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script injection, as it can enable attackers to perform a wide range of malicious activities against affected WordPress installations. High-privilege users who are targeted by this vulnerability could have their sessions hijacked, allowing attackers to perform actions with administrative privileges including modifying content, installing malware, or accessing sensitive data. The reflected nature of the vulnerability means that attackers do not need to store malicious code on the server, as the attack payload is delivered through crafted URLs that are reflected back to the user's browser. This characteristic makes the vulnerability particularly stealthy and difficult to detect through traditional security monitoring approaches, as the malicious code is not persisted in the application's database or file system.
This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Scripting flaws in software applications. The weakness demonstrates poor input handling practices that violate fundamental security principles for web application development. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1059.007 for Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript, and T1566 for Phishing, as attackers would likely use social engineering techniques to lure administrators into clicking malicious links. The remediation strategy involves updating to Blog2Social plugin version 7.2.1 or later, which includes proper input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms. Additionally, administrators should implement proper security monitoring to detect suspicious requests and consider implementing content security policies to mitigate potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability underscores the importance of maintaining up-to-date plugins and themes, as well as implementing comprehensive input validation across all user-facing application components to prevent similar issues from occurring in the future.