CVE-2023-35037
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2023-35037 is a missing authorization vulnerability in the Surfer WordPress plugin that allows attackers to bypass access controls and potentially modify SEO settings or other administrative functions. This affects all WordPress sites running Surfer plugin versions up to 1.3.2.357.
💻 Affected Systems
- Surfer SEO WordPress 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 modify SEO settings, inject malicious content, or potentially gain administrative access to the WordPress site, leading to complete compromise.
Likely Case
Unauthorized users could modify SEO metadata, page titles, descriptions, or other Surfer-specific settings, potentially harming SEO rankings or injecting malicious content.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls and authentication requirements, impact would be limited to authorized users only.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability involves missing authorization checks on API endpoints, making exploitation straightforward once endpoints are identified.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.3.2.358 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/wordpress/plugin/surferseo/vulnerability/wordpress-surfer-plugin-1-1-2-298-broken-access-control-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel
2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
3. Find Surfer plugin
4. Click 'Update Now' if available
5. Alternatively, download latest version from WordPress repository and manually update
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Surfer Plugin
allTemporarily disable the Surfer plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate surferseo
Restrict API Access
allUse web application firewall to block access to Surfer API endpoints
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate WordPress installation
- Deploy web application firewall with rules to detect and block unauthorized API calls to Surfer endpoints
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Surfer versionCheck Version:
wp plugin list --name=surferseo --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Surfer plugin version is 1.3.2.358 or higher in WordPress admin📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized POST requests to /wp-json/surfer/* endpoints
- Multiple failed authentication attempts followed by successful API calls to Surfer endpoints
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns to Surfer API endpoints from unauthorized IP addresses
- POST requests to Surfer endpoints without proper authentication headers
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND (uri_path="/wp-json/surfer/*" AND http_method="POST") AND NOT user_agent="WordPress/*"