WCFM Membership WordPress Plugin (CVE-2022-4939) Vulnerability Exposes Thousands of Websites to Attacks
A critical security vulnerability has been identified in the popular WCFM Membership plugin, posing a severe risk to over 20,000 websites that have installed it. This plugin, designed to offer free and premium subscriptions for multi-vendor marketplaces, is susceptible to unauthenticated privilege escalation attacks, which could leave your website in the hands of malicious actors.
The Vulnerability: CVE-2022-4939 – Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation
CVE-2022-4939, with a CVSS score of 9.8, is a severe security flaw affecting WCFM Membership versions up to and including 2.10.0. The vulnerability originates from a missing capability check in the wp_ajax_nopriv_wcfm_ajax_controller AJAX action responsible for controlling membership settings.
How Attackers Exploit the Flaw:
The lack of proper capability checks allows unauthenticated attackers to manipulate the membership registration form, enabling them to set the registration role to any user, including administrators. Once the form has been configured, the attacker can register as an administrator, granting them full access to your website and its data.
Potential Consequences:
The consequences of an attacker exploiting this vulnerability can be disastrous. With administrator access, the attacker can:
- Modify, delete, or publish content on your website
- Install or remove plugins and themes
- Access sensitive user data and credentials
- Deface your website or redirect users to malicious destinations
- Use your website as a launching pad for further cyberattacks
Protecting Your Website:
To safeguard your website against this critical vulnerability, follow these steps:
- Update the WCFM Membership plugin to the latest version immediately. The developers have released a patch addressing the vulnerability.
- Regularly check for updates for all installed plugins and themes, ensuring they are maintained by reputable developers.
- Implement strong user access controls and limit administrator accounts to essential personnel only.
- Monitor your website for unusual activity, such as new user registrations or unauthorized content changes.
- Consider utilizing a web application firewall (WAF) to help detect and block malicious traffic.
