Facebook Google Plus Twitter LinkedIn YouTube RSS Menu Search Resource - BlogResource - WebinarResource - ReportResource - Eventicons_066 icons_067icons_068icons_069icons_070

Tenable Blog

Subscribe

Duplicator WordPress Plugin Vulnerability Exploited in the Wild

Attackers are targeting a recently patched flaw in a popular WordPress plugin with over 1 million active installations.

Background

On February 12, Snap Creek, makers of the popular WordPress plugin Duplicator, released version 1.3.28 and Duplicator Pro version 3.8.7.1 to address a serious vulnerability.

Duplicator is a plugin used by WordPress site administrators to “migrate and copy WordPress sites.” According to statistics from WordPress.org, Duplicator has over 1 million active installations, and according to Snap Creek, it has been downloaded over 15 million times.

Analysis

According to researchers at Wordfence, an unauthenticated arbitrary file download vulnerability exists in Duplicator versions 1.3.26 and below and Duplicator Pro versions 3.8.7 and below.

The vulnerability exists due to the implementation of a pair of functions, duplicator_download and duplicator_init. The functions can be accessed by unauthenticated users because they were implemented using the wp_ajax_nopriv_ hook. Researchers note that because the functions were “hooked into init,” they would be executed on every WordPress page that’s loaded, whether the user is logged in or not.

Within these functions, the file parameter was sanitized but not validated, so an attacker could use path traversal to access files outside of Duplicator’s specified path.

An unauthenticated, remote attacker could exploit this vulnerability by sending a specially crafted request to a WordPress site using the vulnerable version of the Duplicator plugin. This would allow them to download files outside of the intended directory. An attacker would need some knowledge of the target file structure or attempt to download commonly known files.

These files could include the wp-config.php file, referred to as “one of the most important files” in a WordPress installation. This is because the configuration file contains database credentials and authentication keys and salts. An attacker could use this information to create their own administrator account on the vulnerable site or “inject content or harvest data.”

Wordfence has reportedly blocked over 60,000 attempts to download the wp-config.php file using this vulnerability. They note that of the 60,000 attempts, 50,000 occurred before February 12, prior to Snap Creek releasing a fix for the vulnerability, indicating this was exploited in the wild as a zero-day.

Proof of concept

At the time this blog post was published, there was no proof of concept (PoC) available for this vulnerability. However, there is enough information available in Wordfence’s blog post along with the indicators of compromise to easily craft a PoC.

Solution

Snap Creek addressed this vulnerability in Duplicator version 1.3.28 and Duplicator Pro version 3.8.7.1 on February 12. Duplicator and Duplicator Pro users are strongly encouraged to upgrade to versions 1.3.28 and 3.8.7.1 or greater as soon as possible.

Wordfence provided indicators of compromise to identify attacks exploiting this vulnerability. The bulk of the attacks they’ve seen originate from the following IP address:

  • 77.71.115.52

Additionally, review HTTP logs for requests that include the following query strings:

  • action=duplicator_download
  • file=/../wp-config.php

The most reliable indicator is whether the request contains the file parameter, as that is required to exploit this vulnerability.

Identifying affected systems

A list of Tenable plugins to identify this vulnerability will appear here as they’re released.

Get more information

Join Tenable's Security Response Team on the Tenable Community.

Learn more about Tenable, the first Cyber Exposure platform for holistic management of your modern attack surface.

Get a free 30-day trial of Tenable.io Vulnerability Management.

Related Articles

Are You Vulnerable to the Latest Exploits?

Enter your email to receive the latest cyber exposure alerts in your inbox.

tenable.io

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy.

Your Tenable.io Vulnerability Management trial also includes Tenable Lumin, Tenable.io Web Application Scanning and Tenable.cs Cloud Security.

tenable.io BUY

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy. Purchase your annual subscription today.

65 assets

Choose Your Subscription Option:

Buy Now

Try Nessus Professional Free

FREE FOR 7 DAYS

Nessus® is the most comprehensive vulnerability scanner on the market today.

NEW - Nessus Expert Now Available

Nessus Expert adds even more features, including external attack surface scanning, and the ability to add domains and scan cloud infrastructure. Click here to Try Nessus Expert.

Fill out the form below to continue with a Nessus Professional Trial.

Buy Nessus Professional

Nessus® is the most comprehensive vulnerability scanner on the market today. Nessus Professional will help automate the vulnerability scanning process, save time in your compliance cycles and allow you to engage your IT team.

Buy a multi-year license and save. Add Advanced Support for access to phone, community and chat support 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Select Your License

Buy a multi-year license and save.

Add Support and Training

Tenable.io

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy.

Your Tenable.io Vulnerability Management trial also includes Tenable Lumin, Tenable.io Web Application Scanning and Tenable.cs Cloud Security.

Tenable.io BUY

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy. Purchase your annual subscription today.

65 assets

Choose Your Subscription Option:

Buy Now

Try Tenable.io Web Application Scanning

Enjoy full access to our latest web application scanning offering designed for modern applications as part of the Tenable.io platform. Safely scan your entire online portfolio for vulnerabilities with a high degree of accuracy without heavy manual effort or disruption to critical web applications. Sign up now.

Your Tenable Web Application Scanning trial also includes Tenable.io Vulnerability Management, Tenable Lumin and Tenable.cs Cloud Security.

Buy Tenable.io Web Application Scanning

Enjoy full access to a modern, cloud-based vulnerability management platform that enables you to see and track all of your assets with unmatched accuracy. Purchase your annual subscription today.

5 FQDNs

$3,578

Buy Now

Try Tenable.io Container Security

Enjoy full access to the only container security offering integrated into a vulnerability management platform. Monitor container images for vulnerabilities, malware and policy violations. Integrate with continuous integration and continuous deployment (CI/CD) systems to support DevOps practices, strengthen security and support enterprise policy compliance.

Buy Tenable.io Container Security

Tenable.io Container Security seamlessly and securely enables DevOps processes by providing visibility into the security of container images – including vulnerabilities, malware and policy violations – through integration with the build process.

Try Tenable Lumin

Visualize and explore your Cyber Exposure, track risk reduction over time and benchmark against your peers with Tenable Lumin.

Your Tenable Lumin trial also includes Tenable.io Vulnerability Management, Tenable.io Web Application Scanning and Tenable.cs Cloud Security.

Buy Tenable Lumin

Contact a Sales Representative to see how Lumin can help you gain insight across your entire organization and manage cyber risk.

Try Tenable.cs

Enjoy full access to detect and fix cloud infrastructure misconfigurations and view runtime vulnerabilities. Sign up for your free trial now. To learn more about the trial process click here.

Your Tenable.cs Cloud Security trial also includes Tenable.io Vulnerability Management, Tenable Lumin and Tenable.io Web Application Scanning.

Contact a Sales Rep to Buy Tenable.cs

Contact a Sales Representative to learn more about Tenable.cs Cloud Security and see how easy it is to onboard your cloud accounts and get visibility into both cloud misconfigurations and vulnerabilities within minutes.

Try Nessus Expert Free

FREE FOR 7 DAYS

Built for the modern attack surface, Nessus Expert enables you to see more and protect your organization from vulnerabilities from IT to the cloud.

Already have Nessus Professional?
Upgrade to Nessus Expert free for 7 days.

Buy Nessus Expert

Built for the modern attack surface, Nessus Expert enables you to see more and protect your organization from vulnerabilities from IT to the cloud.

Select Your License

Buy a multi-year license and save more.

Add Support and Training