CVE-2024-23825 in TablePress Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/30/2024
TablePress is a table plugin for Wordpress. For importing tables, TablePress makes external HTTP requests based on a URL that is provided by the user. That user input is filtered insufficiently, which makes it is possible to send requests to unintended network locations and receive responses. On sites in a cloud environment like AWS, an attacker can potentially make GET requests to the instance's metadata REST API. If the instance's configuration is insecure, this can lead to the exposure of internal data, including credentials. This vulnerability is fixed in 2.2.5.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/22/2024
CVE-2024-23825 represents a critical server-side request forgery vulnerability within the TablePress WordPress plugin, which operates under the Common Weakness Enumeration classification of CWE-918 Server-Side Request Forgery. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input validation and sanitization of user-provided URLs during the table import functionality. When users attempt to import tables from external sources, the plugin processes these URLs without adequate security controls, creating an attack vector that allows malicious actors to manipulate the HTTP request destinations. This flaw enables attackers to redirect requests to internal network services that would normally be inaccessible from the internet, particularly affecting cloud environments where instances expose metadata APIs at predictable endpoints.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data exfiltration, as it provides attackers with potential access to sensitive metadata stored within cloud infrastructure. In AWS environments, this specifically enables access to the instance metadata service which contains crucial information including access keys, instance identifiers, and other configuration details that could be leveraged for further compromise. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal privileges since it operates within the context of the web application's network permissions, making it particularly dangerous in multi-tenant environments where the application server may have elevated access rights to internal resources. This aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.002 for Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment, as the attack can be initiated through seemingly legitimate plugin functionality.
Security implications of CVE-2024-23825 are compounded by the fact that it can be exploited through a simple user interaction with the plugin's import feature, requiring no specialized knowledge of the underlying infrastructure. The vulnerability's exploitation path demonstrates how web application components can inadvertently expose internal network resources through improper input handling, creating a pathway for attackers to escalate privileges and access sensitive data. Organizations running TablePress plugins in cloud environments face significant risk as this vulnerability can be exploited without authentication, making it particularly dangerous for systems where the web application has access to internal network resources. The fix in version 2.2.5 addresses the root cause by implementing proper URL validation and restricting requests to whitelisted domains, aligning with security best practices for preventing unauthorized network access.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate patching to version 2.2.5 or later, along with network-level restrictions that prevent outbound connections to internal metadata services. Organizations should also implement monitoring for unusual outbound network requests originating from their web servers, particularly to common internal endpoints. The vulnerability highlights the importance of implementing defense-in-depth strategies, including network segmentation and access control policies that limit what internal services applications can communicate with. Additionally, security teams should review all plugins and themes for similar patterns of insufficient input validation, as this represents a common class of vulnerability that can be exploited across multiple software components in web applications. The incident underscores the necessity of maintaining up-to-date security patches and implementing automated vulnerability scanning to identify and remediate such issues before they can be exploited in the wild.