CVE-2023-2240
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows improper privilege management in Microweber CMS, enabling attackers to escalate privileges or perform unauthorized actions. It affects all Microweber installations prior to version 1.3.4, potentially compromising website administrators and users.
💻 Affected Systems
- Microweber CMS
📦 What is this software?
Microweber by Microweber
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete system compromise allowing attackers to gain administrative access, modify content, steal data, or deploy malware on affected websites.
Likely Case
Unauthorized privilege escalation allowing attackers to modify website content, access user data, or install malicious plugins/themes.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper access controls, but still presents authentication bypass risks in certain configurations.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploit details are publicly available through the huntr.dev bounty program. Attackers need some level of access to exploit the privilege management flaw.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.3.4
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/microweber/microweber/commit/f43d5b767ad5814fc5f84bbaf0b77996262f3a4b
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup your Microweber installation and database. 2. Update to Microweber version 1.3.4 or later via the admin panel or manual update. 3. Verify the update completed successfully.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary Access Restriction
allRestrict administrative access to trusted IP addresses only
# Add to .htaccess for Apache:
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
Allow from 10.0.0.0/8
# Add to nginx config:
location /admin {
allow 192.168.1.0/24;
allow 10.0.0.0/8;
deny all;
}
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation and firewall rules to limit access to Microweber admin interfaces
- Enable detailed logging and monitoring for privilege escalation attempts and unusual admin activities
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check Microweber version in admin panel or via composer.json file. If version is below 1.3.4, the system is vulnerable.Check Version:
php artisan --version | grep MicroweberVerify Fix Applied:
Verify version is 1.3.4 or higher in admin panel and test privilege escalation attempts fail.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed privilege escalation attempts
- Unusual admin user creation/modification
- Unexpected permission changes
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns to admin endpoints
- Multiple authentication attempts from single source
SIEM Query:
source="microweber.logs" AND (event="permission_change" OR event="user_privilege_escalation")🔗 References
- https://github.com/microweber/microweber/commit/f43d5b767ad5814fc5f84bbaf0b77996262f3a4b
- https://huntr.dev/bounties/8f595559-7b4b-4b00-954c-7a627766e203
- https://github.com/microweber/microweber/commit/f43d5b767ad5814fc5f84bbaf0b77996262f3a4b
- https://huntr.dev/bounties/8f595559-7b4b-4b00-954c-7a627766e203
