WordPress released its 6.5.2 maintenance and Security update on April 9th with the major concern of XSS vulnerability. The patch was released as an immediate update. WordPress asked its users to install the as quickly as possible.

WordPress announced the 6.5.2 Maintenance and Security Release update that patches a store cross-site scripting vulnerability and fixes over a dozen bugs in the core and the block editor. The same vulnerability affects both the WordPress core and the Gutenberg plugin.

What Is Cross Site Scripting (XSS)

An XSS vulnerability was discovered in WordPress that could allow an attacker to inject scripts into a website that then attacks site visitors to those pages. There are three kinds of XSS vulnerabilities but the most commonly discovered in WordPress plugins, themes, and WordPress itself are reflected XSS and stored XSS.

Cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks can be of two types – Reflected XSS and Stored XSS. Reflected XSS requires a user to click on a link, making launching the attack a bit difficult. On the other hand, Stored XSS is more dangerous as it exploits a vulnerability that allows the attacker to upload a script into the site that can be used to attack its visitors. In the case of WordPress, a Stored XSS vulnerability was discovered.

This vulnerability is a stored XSS that requires the attacker to have at least contributor-level permissions to exploit the website flaw that makes the vulnerability possible. Therefore, the threat is somewhat mitigated as it is authenticated. On the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS), this vulnerability is rated as medium-level and scored 6.4 out of 10.

WordPress Recommends An Immediate Update

WordPress is recommending its users update to version 6.5.2 to avoid any malicious attack. The update has the required fixes and patches to the problem.

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WordPress’s Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder is a third-party add-on. For the well-liked Elementor page builder plugin, which has more than 200,000 installations. With its drag-and-drop interface, it is simple to create contact forms, even ones with multiple steps.

Beginners who lack coding abilities can construct surveys, contact forms, and referral feedback forms. And more with the help of the Metform contact form builder WordPress plugin for Elementor. Users can also save a form so they can access it again if they lose and regain Internet connection.

Vulnerability to Information Disclosure

An attacker could use the vulnerability to get private data. Due to the requirement that an attacker secures a subscriber-level or higher user status, the NVD has classified this vulnerability as posing a medium-level threat.

As it is simpler to obtain than an admin or editor-level user role, a subscriber-level user role is a relatively low threshold for activating the exploit. An attack can start by an attacker with just one website subscription.

The subscriber user role is described on the Elementor website as follows:

A user of the website who is a WordPress subscriber can only change their profile, read posts, and leave comments.

WordPress employs the idea of “roles” to provide site owners control over and management over the range of actions (or “capabilities”) that users are permitted to perform on the website.

The user role with the fewest permissions at the lowest level is a subscriber.

Update Plugin To Reduce Attack Risk

This vulnerability affects up to and including version 3.3.1 of the Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder plugin. 3.4.0 is the most recent release of the plugin. The vulnerability was addressed in Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder 3.3.2.

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A major vulnerability affecting the Forminator WordPress Contact Form plugin up to and including version 1.24.6 was disclosed by the U.S. Government’s National Vulnerability Database (NVD).

According to the warning, malicious files can be uploaded to websites by unauthenticated attackers, which “may make remote code execution possible.”

On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the most serious vulnerability level, the vulnerability score rating is 9.8, with 1 being the least vulnerable.

Potential For Unauthorised Attacks

In order to exploit many vulnerabilities, an attacker typically has to be a WordPress user or higher. For instance, although specific vulnerabilities are accessible to users with the subscriber user level. Others require the contributor or admin level to be exploited.

This vulnerability is especially concerning because it enables unauthenticated attackers. Those with no user level at all to successfully hijack the website.

The attacker can upload an arbitrary file, which refers to any kind of file, such as a malicious script. This is another reason why this vulnerability is rated 9.8 on a scale of 1 to 10 (critical).

Execution of Remote Code

An exploit that allows the attacker to remotely execute malicious code on the targeted website. From another computer is known as a remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability. An entire site takeover could cause more harm than this kind of hack.

Contact Forms Must Be Strictly Controlled

WordPress plugins that permit logged-in or anonymous users to upload anything. Including text or photos, must have a method to restrict what can be uploaded. Because they allow public feedback, contact forms need to be particularly secure.

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