CVE-2023-37390
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes an unauthenticated PHP object injection vulnerability in the Themesflat Addons For Elementor WordPress plugin. Attackers can exploit insecure deserialization to execute arbitrary code on affected WordPress sites. All WordPress installations using vulnerable versions of this plugin are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Themesflat Addons For Elementor WordPress plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete server compromise allowing remote code execution, data theft, site defacement, and installation of backdoors or malware.
Likely Case
Unauthenticated attackers gain remote code execution capabilities, potentially leading to website takeover, data exfiltration, or ransomware deployment.
If Mitigated
With proper web application firewalls and input validation, exploitation attempts are blocked, limiting impact to failed attack attempts.
🎯 Exploit Status
Public exploit code exists and requires no authentication. Attackers can easily weaponize this vulnerability.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: Versions after 2.0.0
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Themesflat Addons For Elementor'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. If no update available, deactivate and delete the plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable plugin
allDeactivate the Themesflat Addons For Elementor plugin to prevent exploitation
wp plugin deactivate themesflat-addons-for-elementor
Web Application Firewall rule
allBlock requests containing serialized PHP objects targeting the vulnerable endpoint
Add WAF rule to block POST requests containing 'O:' followed by numbers to vulnerable paths
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Immediately deactivate and remove the Themesflat Addons For Elementor plugin
- Implement a web application firewall with rules to block PHP object injection attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins for 'Themesflat Addons For Elementor' version 2.0.0 or earlierCheck Version:
wp plugin get themesflat-addons-for-elementor --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is higher than 2.0.0 or plugin is completely removed📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with serialized PHP objects
- Unusual PHP error logs mentioning unserialize() or object injection
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests containing serialized data patterns (O:8:, C:7:, etc.) to WordPress admin endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND (uri="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" OR uri="/wp-admin/admin-post.php") AND (body CONTAINS "O:" OR body CONTAINS "C:")🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/themesflat-addons-for-elementor/wordpress-themesflat-addons-for-elementor-plugin-2-0-0-unauthenticated-php-object-injection-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/themesflat-addons-for-elementor/wordpress-themesflat-addons-for-elementor-plugin-2-0-0-unauthenticated-php-object-injection-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
