CVE-2024-43042
📋 TL;DR
Pluck CMS 4.7.18 lacks rate limiting on login attempts, allowing attackers to perform brute force attacks against admin credentials. This affects all Pluck CMS 4.7.18 installations with default configuration. Attackers can potentially gain administrative access to the CMS.
💻 Affected Systems
- Pluck CMS
📦 What is this software?
Pluck by Pluck Cms
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete compromise of CMS administration leading to website defacement, data theft, or server takeover if CMS has elevated privileges.
Likely Case
Administrative account takeover allowing content manipulation, plugin installation, or configuration changes.
If Mitigated
Failed login attempts logged but no successful compromise if strong passwords are used.
🎯 Exploit Status
Brute force attacks require no special tools - standard HTTP requests to login endpoint with different credentials.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 4.7.19 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://github.com/pluck-cms/pluck
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Backup current installation
2. Download Pluck CMS 4.7.19+ from GitHub
3. Replace existing files with new version
4. Verify login functionality works
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Web Application Firewall Rate Limiting
linuxImplement rate limiting at WAF or reverse proxy level
# Example nginx rate limiting:
limit_req_zone $binary_remote_addr zone=login:10m rate=5r/m;
location /admin {
limit_req zone=login burst=10 nodelay;
}
IP-based Blocking via .htaccess
linuxBlock IPs with excessive failed logins using Apache mod_evasive or similar
# Install mod_evasive
sudo apt-get install libapache2-mod-evasive
# Configure in Apache
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement network-level rate limiting using firewall or load balancer
- Change admin password to strong, complex password (16+ characters with mix of types)
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check if you can send multiple failed login requests without lockout or delayCheck Version:
Check Pluck CMS version in admin panel or read version.txt fileVerify Fix Applied:
Attempt multiple failed logins and verify account locks or rate limiting occurs📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed login attempts from same IP
- Rapid succession of POST requests to /admin/login
Network Indicators:
- High volume of HTTP POST requests to login endpoint
- Pattern of credential guessing
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" action="POST" uri="/admin/login" status="401" | stats count by src_ip | where count > 10