WordPress Contact Form 7 Plugin <= 5.8.3 is vulnerable to Arbitrary File Upload
Risks
CVSS 6.6
Arbitrary File Upload
This could allow a malicious actor to upload any type of file to your website. This can include backdoors which are then executed to gain further access to your 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
This security issue has a low severity impact and is unlikely to be exploited.
Automatically mitigate vulnerabilities and keep your websites safe
Patchstack has issued a virtual patch to mitigate this issue by blocking any attacks until you have updated to a fixed version.
Update to version 5.8.4 or later.
Update to version 5.8.4 or later to remove the vulnerability. Patchstack users can turn on auto-update for vulnerable plugins only.
Details
Due to a .htaccess configuration, remote code execution cannot be achieved at will and requires another plugin that keeps the uploaded file longer on the filesystem.
Timeline
Early warning sent out to Patchstack customers
01 Dec 2023
Published by Patchstack
03 Dec 2023Patchstack 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.
