CVE-2023-52190
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to access sensitive information, including personally identifiable information (PII) and coupon data, from the Coupon Referral Program plugin for WordPress. It affects all versions up to and including 1.7.2, potentially exposing user data on websites using this plugin.
💻 Affected Systems
- WP Swings Coupon Referral Program for WordPress
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal sensitive user data (e.g., names, emails, coupon details), leading to privacy violations, identity theft, or financial fraud.
Likely Case
Unauthenticated data exposure of PII and coupon information, compromising user privacy and potentially enabling targeted attacks.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if the plugin is not installed or if access controls and monitoring detect unauthorized data requests.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation likely involves simple HTTP requests to access sensitive endpoints without authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.7.3 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Coupon Referral Program' and update to version 1.7.3 or later. 4. Verify the update completes successfully.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable the plugin
allTemporarily deactivate the Coupon Referral Program plugin to prevent exploitation until patching is possible.
wp plugin deactivate coupon-referral-program
Restrict access via web server
linuxUse web server configurations (e.g., .htaccess for Apache) to block unauthorized access to plugin directories.
# In .htaccess: Order Deny,Allow
Deny from all
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Monitor logs for unusual access patterns to plugin endpoints and implement network segmentation to limit exposure.
- Apply strict access controls and consider removing the plugin if not essential, while assessing data exposure risks.
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check the plugin version in WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins; if version is 1.7.2 or lower, it is vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get coupon-referral-program --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, confirm the plugin version is 1.7.3 or later in the same location and test that sensitive data is no longer accessible without authentication.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual HTTP requests to plugin-specific URLs (e.g., /wp-content/plugins/coupon-referral-program/) from unauthenticated IPs.
Network Indicators:
- Spikes in traffic to plugin endpoints or data exfiltration patterns.
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND url="*coupon-referral-program*" AND status=200 AND user="-"🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/coupon-referral-program/wordpress-coupon-referral-program-plugin-1-7-2-unauthenticated-sensitive-data-pii-coupon-data-exposure-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/coupon-referral-program/wordpress-coupon-referral-program-plugin-1-7-2-unauthenticated-sensitive-data-pii-coupon-data-exposure-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
