CVE-2023-26521
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2023-26521 is a missing authorization vulnerability in the WordPress Search in Place plugin that allows unauthenticated users to submit feedback through the plugin's functionality. This affects all WordPress sites running Search in Place plugin versions up to 1.0.104. The vulnerability enables functionality misuse by bypassing intended access controls.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress Search in Place plugin
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could submit malicious feedback content, potentially including cross-site scripting payloads or spam, compromising site integrity and user trust.
Likely Case
Unauthenticated users submit spam feedback or abuse the feedback system, creating administrative overhead and potential reputation damage.
If Mitigated
With proper authorization checks, only authenticated users with appropriate permissions can submit feedback through the plugin.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability is straightforward to exploit as it involves sending HTTP requests to the vulnerable endpoint without authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.0.105 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Search in Place' plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 1.0.105+ from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Search in Place plugin
allTemporarily deactivate the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate search-in-place
Web Application Firewall rule
allBlock requests to the vulnerable feedback endpoint
Add WAF rule to block POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action parameter containing 'search_in_place_feedback'
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network-level filtering to block unauthorized access to the plugin's feedback submission endpoint
- Monitor and audit all feedback submissions through the plugin for suspicious activity
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress plugin version: Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins and verify Search in Place version is 1.0.104 or earlierCheck Version:
wp plugin get search-in-place --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm plugin version is 1.0.105 or later and test that unauthenticated users cannot submit feedback through the plugin📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with 'search_in_place_feedback' action from unauthenticated IPs
- Unusual spike in feedback submissions
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to WordPress admin-ajax endpoint with search_in_place_feedback parameter from external sources
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND "admin-ajax.php" AND "search_in_place_feedback" AND NOT user_id=*🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/search-in-place/wordpress-search-in-place-plugin-1-0-104-missing-authorization-leading-to-feedback-submission-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/search-in-place/wordpress-search-in-place-plugin-1-0-104-missing-authorization-leading-to-feedback-submission-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
