CVE-2022-44578

Executive Summary

CVE-2022-44578 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Owl Carousel WordPress plugin (slug: owl-carousel) by pjehan, affecting versions up to and including 0.5.3. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially leading to unauthorized access to sensitive data or functionality. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 5.3 (Medium) and an EPSS score of 0.0%, indicating low exploitation likelihood in the wild. No public proof-of-concept (PoC) or exploit code is currently available.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. As such, it is part of the WordPress ecosystem and should be treated as a supply chain risk for any site using the plugin. The plugin is not available on NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby registries.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 5.3 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: None
• User Interaction: None
• Scope: Unchanged
• Confidentiality Impact: Low
• Integrity Impact: None
• Availability Impact: None

The vulnerability is exploitable remotely without authentication, but only leads to limited information disclosure. The low EPSS score (0.0%) suggests that exploitation is not currently widespread.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The Owl Carousel plugin (versions <= 0.5.3) fails to properly enforce authorization checks on certain AJAX actions or REST API endpoints. Specifically, the plugin registers WordPress AJAX hooks (both wp_ajax_ and wp_ajax_nopriv_) without verifying user capabilities. This allows any unauthenticated visitor to trigger administrative functions, such as retrieving stored carousel data, configuration options, or other sensitive information.

The root cause is a missing current_user_can() check in the callback functions for these actions. For example, a function like owl_carousel_get_data() might be hooked to wp_ajax_nopriv_owl_carousel_get_data, allowing anyone to call it without authentication.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable Code (<= 0.5.3):

add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_owl_carousel_get_data', 'owl_carousel_get_data');
function owl_carousel_get_data() {
    // No capability check
    $data = get_option('owl_carousel_settings');
    wp_send_json_success($data);
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_owl_carousel_get_data', 'owl_carousel_get_data');
function owl_carousel_get_data() {
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $data = get_option('owl_carousel_settings');
    wp_send_json_success($data);
}

The patched version removes the nopriv hook (which allows unauthenticated access) and adds a capability check using current_user_can('manage_options').

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Since no public exploit code exists, a penetration tester would need to manually identify vulnerable endpoints. Steps:

1. Identify the plugin: Use WPScan or manual inspection to detect Owl Carousel version.
2. Enumerate AJAX actions: Look for wp_ajax_nopriv_ hooks in the plugin's PHP files.
3. Craft a request: Send a POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the action parameter set to a vulnerable action (e.g., owl_carousel_get_data).

Example curl command:

curl -X POST http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php \
  -d "action=owl_carousel_get_data"

If successful, the response will contain sensitive data (e.g., plugin settings, stored carousel configurations).

Blue Team

To detect exploitation attempts:

1. Monitor AJAX requests: Look for POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with suspicious action parameters.
2. Check for missing nonces: Vulnerable endpoints often lack nonce verification.
3. Review server logs: Identify requests from unauthenticated users to admin-ajax.php with plugin-specific actions.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File: /wp-content/plugins/owl-carousel/ (presence of the plugin)
• Log Entry: POST to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=owl_carousel_* from an unauthenticated user
• Network: HTTP requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with parameters containing owl_carousel
• Response: JSON response containing plugin settings or carousel data

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule Detect_Owl_Carousel_Vulnerable
{
    meta:
        description = "Detects vulnerable Owl Carousel plugin files (<= 0.5.3)"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2022-44578"
    strings:
        $hook1 = "wp_ajax_nopriv_owl_carousel"
        $hook2 = "wp_ajax_owl_carousel"
        $func = "function owl_carousel_"
    condition:
        all of ($hook*) and #func > 0
}

Sigma Rule

title: Detect Owl Carousel Missing Authorization Exploitation
id: 8a4b3c2d-1e5f-6a7b-8c9d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated AJAX requests to Owl Carousel plugin endpoints
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/04/10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=owl_carousel_'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (if nonce is present)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (
    msg:"CVE-2022-44578 Owl Carousel Missing Authorization Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST"; http_method;
    content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http_uri;
    content:"action=owl_carousel_"; http_client_body;
    classtype:attempted-recon;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

1. Immediate Action: Disable or remove the Owl Carousel plugin if not essential.
2. Update: Check for a patched version (> 0.5.3) from the WordPress plugin repository. If unavailable, consider replacing with an alternative carousel plugin.
3. Virtual Patching: Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action parameters containing owl_carousel_ from unauthenticated users.
4. Code Fix: If you maintain the plugin, add capability checks to all AJAX hooks and remove nopriv hooks for administrative actions.
5. Monitoring: Implement the detection rules above to identify exploitation attempts.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers