Description

WP-CLI is the command-line interface for WordPress. An improper error handling in HTTPS requests management in WP-CLI version 0.12.0 and later allows remote attackers able to intercept the communication to remotely disable the certificate verification on WP-CLI side, gaining full control over the communication content, including the ability to impersonate update servers and push malicious updates towards WordPress instances controlled by the vulnerable WP-CLI agent, or push malicious updates toward WP-CLI itself. The vulnerability stems from the fact that the default behavior of `WP_CLI\Utils\http_request()` when encountering a TLS handshake error is to disable certificate validation and retry the same request. The default behavior has been changed with version 2.5.0 of WP-CLI and the `wp-cli/wp-cli` framework (via https://github.com/wp-cli/wp-cli/pull/5523) so that the `WP_CLI\Utils\http_request()` method accepts an `$insecure` option that is `false` by default and consequently that a TLS handshake failure is a hard error by default. This new default is a breaking change and ripples through to all consumers of `WP_CLI\Utils\http_request()`, including those in separate WP-CLI bundled or third-party packages. https://github.com/wp-cli/wp-cli/pull/5523 has also added an `--insecure` flag to the `cli update` command to counter this breaking change. There is no direct workaround for the default insecure behavior of `wp-cli/wp-cli` versions before 2.5.0. The workaround for dealing with the breaking change in the commands directly affected by the new secure default behavior is to add the `--insecure` flag to manually opt-in to the previous insecure behavior.

Metrics

 

CVSS Version 4.0 CVSS Version 3.x CVSS Version 2.0

NVD enrichment efforts reference publicly available information to associate vector strings. CVSS information contributed by other sources is also displayed.

CVSS 4.0 Severity and Vector Strings:

NIST: NVD

N/A

NVD assessment not yet provided.

CVSS 3.x Severity and Vector Strings:

NIST: NVD

Base Score:  7.4 HIGH

Vector:  CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CNA:  GitHub, Inc.

Base Score:  9.1 CRITICAL

Vector:  CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

CVSS 2.0 Severity and Vector Strings:

NIST: NVD

Base Score:  7.5 HIGH

Vector:  (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P)

OR
     *cpe:2.3:a:wp-cli:wp-cli:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 0.12.0 up to (excluding) 2.5.0

NIST (AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P)

NIST AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

https://github.com/wp-cli/checksum-command/pull/86 No Types Assigned

https://github.com/wp-cli/checksum-command/pull/86 Patch, Third Party Advisory

https://github.com/wp-cli/config-command/pull/128 No Types Assigned

https://github.com/wp-cli/config-command/pull/128 Patch, Third Party Advisory

https://github.com/wp-cli/core-command/pull/186 No Types Assigned

https://github.com/wp-cli/core-command/pull/186 Patch, Third Party Advisory

https://github.com/wp-cli/extension-command/pull/287 No Types Assigned

https://github.com/wp-cli/extension-command/pull/287 Patch, Third Party Advisory

https://github.com/wp-cli/package-command/pull/138 No Types Assigned

https://github.com/wp-cli/package-command/pull/138 Third Party Advisory

https://github.com/wp-cli/wp-cli/pull/5523 No Types Assigned

https://github.com/wp-cli/wp-cli/pull/5523 Patch, Third Party Advisory

https://github.com/wp-cli/wp-cli/security/advisories/GHSA-rwgm-f83r-v3qj No Types Assigned

https://github.com/wp-cli/wp-cli/security/advisories/GHSA-rwgm-f83r-v3qj Third Party Advisory