CVE-2023-49778 – This CVE describes an unauthenticated PHP objec... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2023-49778?

CVE-2023-49778 has a CVSS score of 10.0 (CRITICAL). This CVE describes an unauthenticated PHP object injection vulnerability in the WordPress Sayfa Sayac plugin. Attackers can exploit deserialization of untrusted data to execute arbitrary code on affected WordPress sites. All WordPress installations using Sayfa Sayac plugin versions up to 2.6 are vulnerable.

📋 TL;DR

This CVE describes an unauthenticated PHP object injection vulnerability in the WordPress Sayfa Sayac plugin. Attackers can exploit deserialization of untrusted data to execute arbitrary code on affected WordPress sites. All WordPress installations using Sayfa Sayac plugin versions up to 2.6 are vulnerable.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

WordPress Sayfa Sayac plugin

Versions: All versions up to and including 2.6

Operating Systems: Any OS running WordPress

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All WordPress installations with the vulnerable plugin version are affected regardless of configuration.

📦 What is this software?

Sayfa Sayac by Dmry

View all CVEs affecting Sayfa Sayac →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Complete server compromise leading to data theft, ransomware deployment, or website defacement.

🟠

Likely Case

Remote code execution allowing attackers to install backdoors, steal sensitive data, or pivot to other systems.

🟢

If Mitigated

Limited impact if proper network segmentation and web application firewalls block exploitation attempts.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - WordPress sites are typically internet-facing and the exploit requires no authentication.

🏢 Internal Only: LOW - This is a WordPress plugin vulnerability primarily affecting web servers.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

Public exploit details are available and the vulnerability requires no authentication to exploit.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: Version 2.7 or later

Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/sayfa-sayac/wordpress-sayfa-sayac-plugin-2-6-unauthenticated-php-object-injection-vulnerability

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find Sayfa Sayac and update to version 2.7+. 4. If update not available, deactivate and delete the plugin immediately.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable Plugin

all

Deactivate the Sayfa Sayac plugin to prevent exploitation.

wp plugin deactivate sayfa-sayac

Web Application Firewall Rule

all

Block requests containing serialized PHP object patterns.

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Immediately deactivate and remove the Sayfa Sayac plugin from all WordPress installations.
Implement a web application firewall (WAF) with rules to block PHP object injection attempts.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Installed Plugins for Sayfa Sayac version 2.6 or earlier.

Check Version:

wp plugin get sayfa-sayac --field=version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm Sayfa Sayac plugin version is 2.7 or later in WordPress admin panel.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual POST requests to WordPress endpoints
PHP errors related to unserialize()
Unexpected file creation in wp-content/uploads

Network Indicators:

HTTP requests containing serialized PHP object patterns (O:)
Traffic to known malicious IPs from WordPress server

SIEM Query:

source="wordpress.log" AND ("unserialize" OR "sayfa-sayac") AND status=200

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2023-49778

CVSS v3 Score: 10.0 (CRITICAL)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-502

Published: December 21, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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