CVE-2023-52117
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a Missing Authorization (Broken Access Control) vulnerability in the ProfileGrid WordPress plugin. It allows unauthorized users to access functionality or data that should require proper authentication. All WordPress sites running ProfileGrid versions up to 5.6.6 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- ProfileGrid - User Profiles, Groups and Communities
📦 What is this software?
Profilegrid by Metagauss
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Unauthorized users could access, modify, or delete user profiles, groups, or community data, potentially leading to data breach, privilege escalation, or site defacement.
Likely Case
Unauthorized viewing or modification of user profile information, potentially exposing personal data or allowing profile manipulation.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls and authentication checks, impact would be limited to attempted unauthorized access that gets properly denied.
🎯 Exploit Status
Missing authorization vulnerabilities typically require minimal technical skill to exploit once the attack vector is identified.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 5.6.7 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find ProfileGrid plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if update available. 5. Alternatively, download latest version from WordPress.org and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable ProfileGrid Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities
Restrict Access via Web Application Firewall
allConfigure WAF rules to block unauthorized access attempts to ProfileGrid endpoints
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict access controls at network level to restrict access to WordPress admin and plugin endpoints
- Enable detailed logging and monitoring for unauthorized access attempts to ProfileGrid functionality
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins → ProfileGrid version. If version is 5.6.6 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify ProfileGrid version shows 5.6.7 or higher in WordPress admin plugins page.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized access attempts to ProfileGrid endpoints
- HTTP 403 errors followed by successful 200 responses to same endpoints
- Unusual user activity in profile management functions
Network Indicators:
- Unusual traffic patterns to /wp-content/plugins/profilegrid/ endpoints
- Requests to ProfileGrid API endpoints without proper authentication headers
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("profilegrid" OR "ProfileGrid") AND (status=200 OR status=403) AND user="unauthenticated"🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities/wordpress-profilegrid-plugin-5-6-6-broken-access-control-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities/wordpress-profilegrid-plugin-5-6-6-broken-access-control-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
