CVE-2023-41796 in Photo Cart Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/20/2023
Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in WP Sunshine Sunshine Photo Cart: Free Client Galleries for Photographers.This issue affects Sunshine Photo Cart: Free Client Galleries for Photographers: from n/a before 3.0.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/13/2024
This vulnerability represents a critical authorization bypass flaw that allows unauthenticated users to access protected administrative functions through manipulation of user-controlled keys. The WP Sunshine Sunshine Photo Cart plugin suffers from insufficient validation of authentication tokens and access control mechanisms, creating a pathway for attackers to bypass normal security restrictions. The vulnerability specifically manifests when the plugin processes user-supplied keys that should normally be restricted to authenticated administrators, enabling unauthorized access to gallery management features and client data. The affected version range indicates that this flaw existed in all previous versions prior to the 3.0.0 release, suggesting a long-standing security gap that could have been exploited by threat actors for extended periods.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from improper handling of cryptographic keys or session identifiers within the plugin's authentication framework. Attackers can exploit this weakness by crafting malicious requests that include manipulated key parameters, effectively impersonating legitimate administrators. This type of vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization in software systems, and represents a classic case of insufficient access control validation. The flaw essentially allows attackers to escalate privileges through user-controlled input, bypassing the intended security boundaries that should prevent unauthorized access to administrative functions.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exposure, as it enables comprehensive administrative access to client galleries and associated photographic content. An attacker with this privilege could modify gallery configurations, delete client accounts, manipulate image metadata, and potentially access sensitive client information stored within the plugin's database. The consequences are particularly severe for photographers who rely on this plugin for client gallery management, as unauthorized access could result in reputation damage, client data breaches, and potential legal implications. This vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1078.004 which covers legitimate credentials, and T1566.001 which involves social engineering through credential harvesting.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate plugin updates to version 3.0.0 or later, which presumably contains the necessary security patches to address the authorization bypass mechanism. Administrators should also implement additional monitoring of access logs to detect suspicious authentication patterns and consider implementing rate limiting on authentication endpoints to prevent automated exploitation attempts. The security community should conduct thorough penetration testing to verify the fix's effectiveness and ensure no other similar authorization bypass vulnerabilities exist within the plugin's codebase. Organizations using this plugin should also review their current access control policies and consider implementing multi-factor authentication for administrative accounts to add additional security layers beyond the basic authorization mechanisms that were compromised in this vulnerability.