CVE-2018-20231 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2018-20231
Vulnerability Scoring

8.8
/10
Severe Risk

Cybersecurity professionals consider CVE-2018-20231 an immediate threat requiring urgent mitigation.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Unchanged
    Exploit remains within the originally vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: Required
    User interaction is necessary for successful exploitation.

CVE-2018-20231 Details

Status: Modified

Last updated: 🕓 21 Nov 2024, 04:01 UTC
Originally published on: 🕚 19 Dec 2018, 11:29 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 2163 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

nvd@nist.gov

CVSS3 Type

Primary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2018-20231 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2018-20231: Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) in the two-factor-authentication plugin before 1.3.13 for WordPress allows remote attackers to disable 2FA via the tfa_enable_tfa parameter due to missing nonce validation.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2018-20231

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2018-20231 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2018-20231

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2018-20231 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2018-20231, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2018-20231, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2018-20231 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2018-20231 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2018-20231 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 1.803% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 88.18% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 11.819999999999993% of others.

CVE-2018-20231 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-352

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • JSON Hijacking (aka JavaScript Hijacking) CAPEC-111 An attacker targets a system that uses JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) as a transport mechanism between the client and the server (common in Web 2.0 systems using AJAX) to steal possibly confidential information transmitted from the server back to the client inside the JSON object by taking advantage of the loophole in the browser's Same Origin Policy that does not prohibit JavaScript from one website to be included and executed in the context of another website.
  • Cross-Domain Search Timing CAPEC-462 An attacker initiates cross domain HTTP / GET requests and times the server responses. The timing of these responses may leak important information on what is happening on the server. Browser's same origin policy prevents the attacker from directly reading the server responses (in the absence of any other weaknesses), but does not prevent the attacker from timing the responses to requests that the attacker issued cross domain.
  • Cross Site Identification CAPEC-467 An attacker harvests identifying information about a victim via an active session that the victim's browser has with a social networking site. A victim may have the social networking site open in one tab or perhaps is simply using the "remember me" feature to keep their session with the social networking site active. An attacker induces a payload to execute in the victim's browser that transparently to the victim initiates a request to the social networking site (e.g., via available social network site APIs) to retrieve identifying information about a victim. While some of this information may be public, the attacker is able to harvest this information in context and may use it for further attacks on the user (e.g., spear phishing).
  • Cross Site Request Forgery CAPEC-62 An attacker crafts malicious web links and distributes them (via web pages, email, etc.), typically in a targeted manner, hoping to induce users to click on the link and execute the malicious action against some third-party application. If successful, the action embedded in the malicious link will be processed and accepted by the targeted application with the users' privilege level. This type of attack leverages the persistence and implicit trust placed in user session cookies by many web applications today. In such an architecture, once the user authenticates to an application and a session cookie is created on the user's system, all following transactions for that session are authenticated using that cookie including potential actions initiated by an attacker and simply "riding" the existing session cookie.

Vulnerable Configurations

  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.0:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.0:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.1:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.1:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.2:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.2:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.3:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.3:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.5:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.5:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.6:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.6:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.7:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.7:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.8:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.8:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.9:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.9:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.10:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.10:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.11:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.11:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.12:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.12:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.13:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.13:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.14:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.14:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.15:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.15:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.17:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.17:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.18:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.18:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.19:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.19:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.21:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.1.21:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.1:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.1:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.2:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.2:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.3:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.3:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.4:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.4:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.6:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.6:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.8:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.8:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.10:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.10:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.11:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.11:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.12:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.12:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.13:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.13:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.14:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.14:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.15:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.15:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.16:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.16:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.17:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.17:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.20:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.20:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.21:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.21:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.22:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.22:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.23:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.23:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.24:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.24:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.26:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.26:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.27:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.27:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.29:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.29:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.30:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.30:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.31:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.31:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.32:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.32:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.33:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.33:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.34:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.34:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.35:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.2.35:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.0:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.0:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.1:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.1:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.2:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.2:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.3:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.3:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.4:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.4:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.5:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.5:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.6:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.6:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.7:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.7:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.8:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.8:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.9:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.9:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.10:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.10:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.11:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.11:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
  • cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.12:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
    cpe:2.3:a:simbahosting:two-factor-authentication:1.3.12:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*

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