Description

CVE-2024-13553 is a critical privilege escalation vulnerability affecting the SMS Alert Order Notifications – WooCommerce plugin for WordPress, versions 3.7.9 and earlier. It allows unauthenticated attackers to take over any user account, including administrator accounts, by spoofing the Host header. This forces the OTP code to a predictable value ("1234"), bypassing authentication. Although the CVSS score is high (9.8), the SVRS score is 0.

Key Insights

• Critical Privilege Escalation: The most significant aspect of this vulnerability is the ease with which an attacker can gain administrative access. By exploiting the flawed Host header validation, any unauthorized individual can completely compromise the affected WordPress site.
• Predictable OTP: The vulnerability hinges on the plugin's incorrect use of the Host header to identify a playground environment, leading to the OTP code being set to a static value of "1234." This makes exploitation trivial.
• Unauthenticated Access: No prior authentication is needed to exploit this vulnerability. An attacker can directly send a malicious request and gain access.
• The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) has warned of the vulnerability, calling for immediate and necessary measures.
• Active exploits have been published.
• The vulnerability is actively exploited by hackers.

Mitigation Strategies

1. Immediate Update: The primary mitigation step is to immediately update the SMS Alert Order Notifications – WooCommerce plugin to the latest version or remove the plugin until a patched version is released. This update should address the flawed Host header validation.
2. Web Application Firewall (WAF) Rule: Implement a WAF rule to inspect and block requests with suspicious Host headers or requests attempting to exploit this vulnerability. The WAF rule should inspect the request header and body for malicious content targeting this vulnerability.
3. Monitor Logs: Closely monitor server logs and WordPress audit logs for any suspicious activity, especially attempts to access the WordPress login page with unusual Host headers or failed login attempts followed by successful logins using "1234" as the OTP.
4. Implement a Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA): While this CVE bypasses OTP authentication, implementing a robust MFA for all users, especially administrators, can add a layer of security against future vulnerabilities and exploits.

Additional Information

If users have additional queries regarding this incident, they can use the 'Ask to Analyst' feature, contact SOCRadar directly, or open a support ticket for more information if necessary.