CVE-2023-48290
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to bypass CAPTCHA protection in the Form Maker by 10Web WordPress plugin by making excessive authentication attempts. It affects all WordPress sites using Form Maker by 10Web versions up to 1.15.20, potentially allowing automated form submissions.
💻 Affected Systems
- Form Maker by 10Web WordPress plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could bypass CAPTCHA protection to submit forms repeatedly, leading to spam, data collection abuse, or automated attacks through form submissions.
Likely Case
Automated bots bypass CAPTCHA to submit spam through forms, potentially overwhelming administrators or collecting sensitive information.
If Mitigated
With proper rate limiting and updated software, impact is minimal as legitimate CAPTCHA protection functions normally.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation involves sending excessive authentication attempts to bypass CAPTCHA, which is straightforward for automated tools.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.15.21 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Form Maker by 10Web' and click 'Update Now'. 4. Verify update to version 1.15.21 or later.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF)
allConfigure WAF rules to limit authentication attempts and detect CAPTCHA bypass patterns.
Temporarily Disable Plugin
linuxDeactivate Form Maker by 10Web plugin until patched if forms are not critical.
wp plugin deactivate form-maker
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement rate limiting at the web server or application level to restrict excessive authentication attempts.
- Use alternative form plugins with proper CAPTCHA implementation until patched.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Form Maker by 10Web version. If version is 1.15.20 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get form-maker --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version shows 1.15.21 or later in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed CAPTCHA validation attempts from single IP addresses
- Unusual spike in form submissions bypassing CAPTCHA
Network Indicators:
- High volume of POST requests to form submission endpoints with similar patterns
- Requests bypassing CAPTCHA validation steps
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND "form-maker" AND ("captcha" OR "authentication") AND status=200 AND count by src_ip > 100🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/form-maker/wordpress-form-maker-by-10web-plugin-1-15-20-captcha-bypass-vulnerability-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/form-maker/wordpress-form-maker-by-10web-plugin-1-15-20-captcha-bypass-vulnerability-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
