CVE-2023-47660 in Product Visibility by Country for WooCommerce Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 11/14/2023
Auth. (admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WP Wham Product Visibility by Country for WooCommerce plugin <= 1.4.9 versions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/08/2023
The CVE-2023-47660 vulnerability represents a critical authentication bypass and stored cross-site scripting flaw within the WP Wham Product Visibility by Country for WooCommerce plugin, affecting versions up to and including 1.4.9. This vulnerability specifically targets administrative users with privileges equal to or greater than administrator level, creating a significant risk for e-commerce platforms that rely on WooCommerce for their operations. The issue stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the plugin's administrative interface, where user-supplied data is not properly sanitized before being stored in the database and subsequently rendered in web pages without adequate security measures.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows authenticated administrators to inject malicious scripts into the plugin's administrative settings or product visibility configurations. When the malicious content is later displayed within the admin dashboard or product management interface, the stored XSS payload executes in the context of other administrators' browsers who view the affected pages. This creates a persistent threat vector that can be exploited to steal session cookies, modify administrative settings, or redirect users to malicious domains. The vulnerability maps directly to CWE-79 which defines Cross-Site Scripting as a weakness where untrusted data is incorporated into web pages without proper validation or encoding. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that the vulnerability affects the administrative backend where sensitive configuration changes can be made to control product visibility based on geographic regions.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability poses severe implications for WooCommerce stores that depend on geographic product visibility controls. An attacker who gains access to an administrator account or successfully exploits the authentication bypass can manipulate product availability, modify pricing structures, or redirect customers to phishing sites. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious payload persists even after the initial injection, allowing for prolonged exploitation periods. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability aligns with T1566.001 (Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment) and T1059.001 (Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell) as attackers can leverage the XSS to establish persistent access or execute malicious commands through compromised administrative sessions. The impact extends beyond simple data theft as the attacker could potentially manipulate inventory data, alter pricing, or create fraudulent product listings that could damage business reputation and customer trust.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-47660 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the stored XSS vulnerability, as the vendor has likely released patches to sanitize input parameters and implement proper output encoding. Organizations should also implement additional security measures including role-based access controls, regular monitoring of administrative interfaces, and network segmentation to limit the potential impact of successful exploitation. Security professionals should conduct thorough vulnerability assessments of the affected plugin and related administrative components to identify any additional attack vectors. The remediation process should include comprehensive testing to ensure that the patch does not introduce regressions in functionality while also verifying that all user inputs are properly sanitized before storage. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious input patterns and establish incident response procedures to address potential exploitation attempts. Regular security audits of third-party plugins and themes should be conducted to maintain overall platform security posture and prevent similar vulnerabilities from being introduced through the plugin ecosystem.