CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2024-8512NVD status: Deferred

W3SPEEDSTER: Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2024-8512 is a critical-severity improper neutralization of directives in dynamically evaluated code vulnerability in W3SPEEDSTER, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.1 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with administrator privileges, without any action from a user. Affected W3SPEEDSTER versions: 7.26 and earlier. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.98% chance of exploitation within 30 days, higher than 63% of scored CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Check which version of W3SPEEDSTER you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
W3speedsterW3SPEEDSTER7.26 and earlierNot stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
HighAdministrator-level access is required first.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (wordfence.com).

Official description

The W3SPEEDSTER plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to, and including, 7.26 via the 'script' parameter of the hookBeforeStartOptimization() function. This is due to the plugin passing user supplied input to eval(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Administrator-level access and above, to execute code on the server.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code

The product receives input from an upstream component, but it does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes code syntax before using the input in a dynamic evaluation call (e.g. eval).

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • If possible, refactor your code so that it does not need to use eval() at all.
  • For Python programs, it is frequently encouraged to use the ast.literal_eval() function instead of eval, since it is intentionally designed to avoid executing code. However, an adversary could still cause excessive memory or stack consumption via deeply nested structures, so the python documentation discourages use of ast.literal_eval() on untrusted data.

More Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code vulnerabilities (CWE-95)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Recent Improper Neutralization of Directives in Dynamically Evaluated Code vulnerabilities

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