Compliance Impact

The vulnerability in WordPress Simple-Backup 2.7.11 allows unauthenticated attackers to access and download sensitive files such as wp-config.php, database dumps, and backup archives containing potentially sensitive user data. This unauthorized access and potential exposure of sensitive information can lead to non-compliance with data protection regulations like GDPR and HIPAA, which require strict controls over personal and sensitive data to prevent unauthorized disclosure.

Additionally, the ability to delete critical files like .htaccess can expose backup directories, increasing the risk of data breaches and further complicating compliance efforts by weakening security controls.

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Executive Summary

CVE-2016-20076 affects the WordPress Simple-Backup plugin version 2.7.11 and involves two critical security issues: arbitrary file deletion and unauthorized file download.

The vulnerability arises from improper input validation in the parameters delete_backup_file and download_backup_file within the tools.php file. Attackers can exploit this by using directory traversal techniques to manipulate these parameters.

This allows unauthenticated attackers to delete important files such as .htaccess, which can expose backup directories, or to download sensitive files like wp-config.php, database dumps, and other critical data stored on the server.

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Impact Analysis

This vulnerability can have severe impacts including unauthorized deletion of critical files and exposure of sensitive information.

• Attackers can delete important files such as .htaccess, potentially exposing backup directories to unauthorized access.
• Sensitive files like wp-config.php, database backups, PHP source code, and user passwords can be downloaded by attackers without authentication.
• The exploit requires no authentication, making it easy for remote attackers to compromise the server.

Overall, this can lead to data breaches, server compromise, and loss of data integrity.

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Detection Guidance

This vulnerability can be detected by monitoring for unusual HTTP requests targeting the `tools.php` file with parameters `delete_backup_file` or `download_backup_file` containing directory traversal patterns (e.g., ../).

You can use network monitoring tools or web server logs to identify suspicious requests that attempt to manipulate these parameters.

Example commands to detect such attempts include:

• Using grep on web server access logs to find directory traversal attempts:
• grep -E 'tools\.php.*(delete_backup_file|download_backup_file)=\.\./' /var/log/apache2/access.log
• Using tcpdump or Wireshark to capture HTTP requests containing suspicious parameters.
• Review file system changes for unexpected deletions, especially of critical files like `.htaccess`.

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Mitigation Strategies

Immediate mitigation steps include:

• Disable or remove the vulnerable WordPress Simple-Backup plugin version 2.7.11 until a patched version is available.
• Restrict access to the `tools.php` file or the backup management interface by implementing authentication or IP-based access controls.
• Monitor and restrict HTTP requests containing suspicious parameters such as `delete_backup_file` and `download_backup_file` with directory traversal sequences.
• Regularly back up your site and configuration files to recover from any unauthorized deletions.
• Check and restore critical files like `.htaccess` if they have been deleted or altered.

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