CVE-2023-41665 in GiveWP Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/17/2024
Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in GiveWP allows Privilege Escalation.This issue affects GiveWP: from n/a through 2.33.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/05/2025
The CVE-2023-41665 vulnerability represents a critical improper privilege management flaw within the GiveWP donation platform that enables unauthorized privilege escalation. This vulnerability exists within the core application logic that governs user role permissions and access controls, creating a pathway for malicious actors to elevate their privileges beyond their intended capabilities. The vulnerability specifically impacts GiveWP versions ranging from the initial release through version 2.33.0, indicating a prolonged window of exposure that could have allowed attackers to exploit this weakness for extended periods. The flaw stems from inadequate validation of user permissions during critical administrative operations, allowing users with limited privileges to perform actions typically restricted to administrators or privileged users.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests through insufficient input validation and privilege checking mechanisms within the application's permission system. Attackers can exploit this weakness by manipulating specific API endpoints or administrative functions that should require elevated privileges but instead accept requests from users with lower access levels. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-276, which specifically addresses improper privilege management, where objects are created with insecure permissions or access controls are improperly enforced. This flaw essentially undermines the principle of least privilege by allowing unauthorized users to bypass normal access restrictions that should prevent them from executing administrative functions or accessing sensitive data.
The operational impact of CVE-2023-41665 extends beyond simple privilege escalation to encompass potential data compromise, system integrity violations, and unauthorized modifications to donation records and platform configurations. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could gain access to donor information, modify donation amounts, manipulate payment processing workflows, or even disable critical platform functionality. The consequences are particularly severe for organizations relying on GiveWP for charitable donations, as this vulnerability could enable financial fraud, data breaches, and reputational damage. The vulnerability also provides a potential foothold for further attacks, as the elevated privileges could be used to install malicious code, establish persistence mechanisms, or escalate to other systems within the organization's infrastructure.
Organizations affected by this vulnerability should prioritize immediate remediation through the application of the official patches released by GiveWP, which address the underlying privilege management flaws in the application's permission system. The mitigation strategy should include comprehensive testing of the updated platform to ensure that privilege boundaries are properly enforced and that no regressions have been introduced. Additionally, security teams should implement monitoring of administrative access logs to detect any anomalous privilege usage patterns that might indicate exploitation attempts. From a defensive perspective, this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining current security patches and implementing robust access control measures, including multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts and regular security audits of privilege assignments. The incident also highlights the necessity of following ATT&CK framework principles for privilege escalation techniques, where defenders should focus on hardening access controls and monitoring for suspicious administrative activities that could indicate exploitation of similar weaknesses.