School Management System for Wordpress: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality
CVE-2024-9658 is a high-severity missing authentication for critical functionality vulnerability in School Management System for Wordpress from Dasinfomedia, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an attacker with a low-privileged account, without any action from a user. Affected School Management System for Wordpress versions: 93.0.0 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 0.37% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.
High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.
What to do
- Check which version of School Management System for Wordpress you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
Affected products and versions
| Vendor | Product | Affected versions | Fixed in |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dasinfomedia | School Management System for Wordpress | 93.0.0 and earlier | Not stated |
| Dasinfomedia | School Management System | 93.0.0 and earlier | Not 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
- LowA basic user account is enough.
- User interaction
- NoneNo action by a victim is required.
- Scope
- UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
- 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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (wordfence.com).
Official description
The School Management System for Wordpress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation via account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 93.0.0. This is due to the plugin not properly validating a user's identity prior to updating their details like email and password through the mj_smgt_update_user() and mj_smgt_add_admission() functions, along with a local file inclusion vulnerability. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with student-level access and above, to change arbitrary user's email addresses and passwords, including administrators, and leverage that to gain access to their account. This was escalated four months ago after no response to our initial outreach, yet it still vulnerable.
Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.
The underlying weakness: Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality
The product does not perform any authentication for functionality that requires a provable user identity or consumes a significant amount of resources.
How developers prevent this class of flaw
- For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.
- Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. For example, consider using libraries with authentication capabilities such as OpenSSL or the ESAPI Authenticator.
- When storing data in the cloud (e.g., S3 buckets, Azure blobs, Google Cloud Storage, etc.), use the provider's controls to require strong authentication for users who should be allowed to access the data.
More Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality vulnerabilities (CWE-306)
Timeline
- CVE record published.
- CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: no, technical impact: total).
- Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).
References
Third-party and government advisories
Other references
Other vulnerabilities in School Management System for Wordpress
- 8.8 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 8.8 High severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
Recent Missing Authentication for Critical Functionality vulnerabilities
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.8 Critical severity
- 9.1 Critical severity
- 8.1 High severity
- 7.5 High severity
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