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CVE-2023-2449

9.8 CRITICAL
Authentication Bypass

📋 TL;DR

The UserPro WordPress plugin versions up to 5.1.1 contain an authentication bypass vulnerability that allows unauthorized password resets. Attackers can reset any user's password without authentication by exploiting insufficient validation in the password reset function. This affects all WordPress sites using vulnerable UserPro plugin versions.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:
  • WordPress UserPro plugin
Versions: Up to and including 5.1.1
Operating Systems: All
Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes
Notes: Requires UserPro plugin to be installed and active. Exploitation may require chaining with other vulnerabilities like CVE-2023-2448 or SQL injection in other plugins/themes.

📦 What is this software?

Userpro by Userproplugin

View all CVEs affecting Userpro →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete site takeover with administrative privileges, data theft, defacement, malware injection, and lateral movement to other systems.

🟠

Likely Case

Unauthorized access to user accounts, privilege escalation, data compromise, and potential site takeover if admin accounts are targeted.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact with proper network segmentation, strong authentication controls, and monitoring in place.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH
🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes
Weaponized: CONFIRMED
Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes
Complexity: LOW

Exploit code is publicly available. Attackers can chain this with other vulnerabilities for easier exploitation.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 5.1.2 or later

Vendor Advisory: https://codecanyon.net/item/userpro-user-profiles-with-social-login/5958681

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find UserPro plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update is available. 5. If no update appears, manually download version 5.1.2+ from CodeCanyon and replace plugin files.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable UserPro plugin

all

Temporarily deactivate the vulnerable plugin until patched

wp plugin deactivate userpro

Restrict access to password reset functionality

all

Use web application firewall rules to block unauthorized password reset attempts

🧯 If You Can't Patch

  • Implement strong network segmentation to isolate WordPress instance
  • Enable multi-factor authentication for all administrative accounts

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > UserPro version. If version is 5.1.1 or lower, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

wp plugin get userpro --field=version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm UserPro plugin version is 5.1.2 or higher in WordPress admin panel.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

  • Multiple failed password reset attempts from single IP
  • Successful password resets for multiple users from same source
  • Unusual user privilege changes

Network Indicators:

  • HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=userpro_process_form
  • Unusual spikes in password reset traffic

SIEM Query:

source="wordpress.log" AND ("userpro_process_form" OR "password reset" OR "userpro") AND status=200

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-2449
CVSS v3 Score: 9.8 (CRITICAL)
CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Published: November 22, 2023
Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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