Overview
The cybersecurity landscape is continually evolving with new vulnerabilities being discovered regularly. One such recent discovery is the CVE-2021-24566 vulnerability that affects the WooCommerce Currency Switcher FOX WordPress plugin. If unpatched, this vulnerability can lead to Local File Inclusion (LFI) attacks, potentially compromising the system or leaking sensitive data.
This vulnerability is significant because of the popularity of WooCommerce, a widely-used eCommerce plugin on WordPress. The Currency Switcher FOX extension for WooCommerce is used by online businesses across the globe to manage multiple currencies on their websites. This makes it a high-value target for attackers looking to exploit the vulnerability for malicious gain.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2021-24566
Severity: High (CVSS: 8.8)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
No phone number, email, or personal info required.
Product | Affected Versions
WooCommerce Currency Switcher FOX WordPress Plugin | Before 1.3.7
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of a vulnerability in the “woocs” shortcode of the WooCommerce Currency Switcher FOX WordPress plugin that allows for Local File Inclusion (LFI). An attacker can manipulate the input parameters of this shortcode to execute arbitrary PHP code or include local files from the server, leading to potential system compromise or data leakage.
Conceptual Example Code
An attacker could potentially exploit the vulnerability by sending a specially crafted HTTP request. Here’s a conceptual example:
POST /wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-currency-switcher-fox/ HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: application/json
{ "woocs": "../../../../wp-config" }In this example, the attacker is trying to access the ‘wp-config’ file, a critical file in WordPress installations that contains sensitive information such as database credentials.
Mitigation
To mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability, users of the WooCommerce Currency Switcher FOX WordPress plugin should immediately update to version 1.3.7 or later, which includes a patch for the vulnerability. If an immediate update is not possible, temporary mitigation can be achieved by using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) to detect and block attempts to exploit this vulnerability.