WP Time Capsule Backup and Staging plugin patches critical vulnerability
Take action: If you are using WP Time Capsule plugins, update them as soon as possible to the latest version. This being a patch update, shouldn't break things and update is trivial.
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Security researchers have uncovered a significant vulnerability in the Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule plugin, impacting versions 1.22.20 and earlier. This plugin facilitates website backups and updates through cloud-native file versioning systems.
A critical flaw in the plugin's authentication mechanism allows unauthorized users to gain administrative access to affected sites (NO CVSS Code). The vulnerability, identified by security experts at Patchstack, stems from a logical error in the plugin’s code, particularly within the wptc-cron-functions.php file. The error enables attackers to bypass critical authentication checks by manipulating JSON-encoded POST data, ultimately logging in as site administrators.
The vulnerability affects Backup and Staging by WP Time Capsule versions 1.22.20 and lower.
The vulnerability was reported to the developers on July 3, 2024, who released version 1.22.20 within six hours to mitigate the initial issue.
The initial fix proved insufficient as the comparison method used (!=) could still be circumvented. The developers then released version 1.22.21 on July 12, 2024, which incorporated a more comprehensive security fix using additional hash comparisons to prevent exploitation.
Users of the WP Time Capsule plugin are strongly advised to update to version 1.22.21.
