WordPress Breakdance Plugin <= 1.7.2 is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution (RCE)
Risks
CVSS 9.9
This vulnerability is moderately dangerous and expected to become exploited.
Remote Code Execution (RCE)
This could allow a malicious actor to execute commands on the target website. This can be used to gain backdoor access to then take full control of the website.
This is a general description of this vulnerability type, specific impact varies case by case. CVSS score is a way to evaluate and rank reported vulnerabilities in a standardized and repeatable way, but it is not ideal for CMSs.
Solutions
We advise to mitigate or resolve the vulnerability immediately.
Automatically mitigate vulnerabilities and keep your websites safe
Patchstack has issued a virtual patch to mitigate this issue by blocking any attacks until an official fix becomes available, can be tested and be safely applied.
Details
This is not a false positive. The Client Mode "Edit Content" which is meant to grant limited content edit access to users on Breakdance is by default vulnerable to RCE. Regardless of the existing warnings in place, code execution on the lowest permission available is against common access control principles and should not be made possible. Researcher advisory - https://snicco.io/vulnerability-disclosure/breakdance/client-mode-remote-code-execution-breakdance-1-7-0
Timeline
Reported by
Snicco
Published by Patchstack
03 Apr 2024Patchstack is one of the largest open-source vulnerability disclosers in the world. For example, in 2023 more than 70% of new WordPress vulnerabilities were originally published by Patchstack. This focus on research enables us to deploy vulnerability protection rules faster than anybody else.
Patchstack vPatching auto-mitigates security vulnerabilities even when there's no official patch available. It's the fastest and most effective way to eliminate new security vulnerabilities without sacrificing performance.
Hackers automate attacks against new security vulnerabilities to take over as many websites as they can before users have time to patch and update. The attacks are opportunistic and victims are not chosen - everyone is a target.
We recommend reaching out to your hosting provider for server-side malware scanning or use a professional incident response service. Don't rely on plugin based malware scanners as they are commonly tampered with by malware.
