CVE-2023-46635 in WooCommerce Product Add-Ons Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/02/2025
Missing Authorization vulnerability in YITH YITH WooCommerce Product Add-Ons allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects YITH WooCommerce Product Add-Ons: from n/a through 4.2.0.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/02/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-46635 represents a critical missing authorization flaw within the YITH WooCommerce Product Add-Ons plugin, specifically impacting versions ranging from the initial release through 4.2.0. This security weakness stems from incorrectly configured access control mechanisms that fail to properly validate user permissions before granting access to sensitive administrative functions. The vulnerability exists within the plugin's authorization framework where authenticated users may be able to perform actions they should not have access to based on their role permissions. This misconfiguration allows for privilege escalation scenarios where less privileged users can potentially access administrative interfaces or execute operations reserved for administrators.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability manifests in the plugin's handling of user roles and permissions during product add-on management operations. When users interact with the plugin's administrative features, the system fails to adequately verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary privileges to perform specific actions. This flaw creates a pathway for unauthorized access to product add-on configurations, potentially enabling attackers to modify or delete critical product information, adjust pricing structures, or manipulate add-on settings that affect the entire e-commerce platform. The vulnerability specifically targets the access control validation logic within the plugin's backend processing, where proper authentication checks are either absent or insufficiently enforced.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access, as it can lead to significant business disruption and financial loss for affected e-commerce platforms. Attackers exploiting this weakness can manipulate product configurations, potentially altering prices, adding malicious add-ons, or removing existing ones to disrupt normal business operations. The vulnerability affects WooCommerce stores that rely on the YITH plugin for product customization features, making it particularly dangerous for online retailers where product integrity is paramount. Additionally, the flaw can enable more sophisticated attacks such as data exfiltration, where attackers might access sensitive product information or customer data through manipulated add-on configurations.
Security professionals should consider this vulnerability in the context of CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems, and align it with ATT&CK technique T1078 for valid accounts and T1484 for privilege escalation. Organizations should immediately implement mitigation strategies including updating to the latest plugin version where the vulnerability has been patched, implementing additional access controls through WordPress security plugins, and conducting thorough security audits of all installed plugins. The recommended approach involves verifying that all users have appropriate role-based access controls, implementing network segmentation to limit access to administrative interfaces, and monitoring for unusual administrative activities that might indicate exploitation attempts. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar misconfigurations in other plugins or system components that could present similar authorization challenges.