CVE-2023-2986
Published: 08 June 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-2986 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (CWE-288) vulnerability in Tychesoftwares Abandoned Cart Lite For Woocommerce. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, ranked in the top 0.3% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
The Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to and including 5.14.2. The flaw stems from insufficient encryption when decoding the user identifier supplied via abandoned cart links, as implemented in the plugin's woocommerce-ac.php handling. This permits unauthenticated access to customer accounts that have initiated but not completed a purchase.
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit the issue over the network by crafting or manipulating abandoned cart checkout links to log in as affected users. Successful exploitation grants full access to those accounts, enabling actions such as viewing or modifying personal data, order history, and payment details, consistent with the CVSS 9.8 rating and CWE-288 classification.
Patches introduced in version 5.15.1 add security hardening to invalidate historical checkout links, while version 5.15.2 further addresses cases where null key values could enable the bypass. The referenced plugin changesets and pull request document these updates, and administrators are advised to upgrade promptly to eliminate exposure through legacy links.
The EPSS score has remained near its peak of 0.9225 with a current value of 0.9186, indicating sustained exploitation interest following disclosure.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-34422
Vulnerability details
The Abandoned Cart Lite for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including, 5.14.2. This is due to insufficient encryption on the user being supplied during the abandoned cart link decode through the…
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plugin. This allows unauthenticated attackers to log in as users who have abandoned the cart, who are typically customers. Further security hardening was introduced in version 5.15.1 that ensures sites are no longer vulnerable through historical check-out links, and additional hardening was introduced in version 5.15.2 that ensured null key values wouldn't permit the authentication bypass.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Likely Mitigating Controls AI
Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.
Authorizing remote access reduces the ability to bypass authentication via unauthorized alternate remote channels.
Users can identify logons via alternate paths or channels by reviewing the previous logon time.
Adaptive requirements can apply across access paths, reducing the ability to bypass authentication via alternate channels or paths.
Centralized IdPs close alternate authentication paths that enable bypass.
Enforces authentication for non-organizational users, making it harder to bypass via alternate paths or channels.
Requires authentication to occur exclusively over the isolated trusted path, directly preventing bypass via alternate or untrusted channels.