CVE-2023-51524
📋 TL;DR
CVE-2023-51524 is a missing authorization vulnerability in the weForms WordPress plugin that allows unauthorized users to access form submission data and potentially modify form settings. This affects all WordPress sites using weForms versions up to 1.6.18. The vulnerability stems from improper access control checks on certain administrative functions.
💻 Affected Systems
- weForms WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
Weforms by Weformspro
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could access sensitive form submission data (including PII), modify form configurations, delete submissions, or potentially escalate privileges within the WordPress environment.
Likely Case
Unauthorized viewing of form submissions containing potentially sensitive information submitted by users.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper network segmentation and additional authorization layers in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires some WordPress user access but not administrative privileges. The vulnerability is in access control logic, making exploitation straightforward once identified.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.6.19 and later
Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/weforms/wordpress-weforms-plugin-1-6-18-broken-access-control-vulnerability
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel
2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins
3. Find weForms plugin
4. Click 'Update Now' if update available
5. If no update available, download version 1.6.19+ from WordPress.org
6. Deactivate old version, upload new version, activate
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary Plugin Deactivation
allDisable the weForms plugin until patched to prevent exploitation
wp plugin deactivate weforms
Access Restriction via .htaccess
linuxRestrict access to weForms admin endpoints
# Add to .htaccess in WordPress root:
<FilesMatch "weforms\.php">
Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
</FilesMatch>
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement additional authorization checks at web application firewall level
- Restrict network access to WordPress admin interface using IP whitelisting
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins for weForms version. If version is 1.6.18 or earlier, system is vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get weforms --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify weForms version is 1.6.19 or later in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized access attempts to /wp-admin/admin.php?page=weforms entries
- Multiple failed authorization attempts on weForms endpoints
- Unexpected form data access from non-admin users
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to weForms admin endpoints from unauthorized IPs
- POST requests to form submission endpoints without proper referrer
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin.php" AND query_string="*page=weforms*") AND user_role!="administrator"