'portable-phpMyAdmin (WordPress Plugin)' Authentication Bypass (CVE-2012-5469)
Mark Stanislav - mark.stanislav@gmail.com


I. DESCRIPTION
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portable-phpMyAdmin doesn't verify an existing WordPress session (privileged or not) when accessing the plugin file path directly. Because of how this plugin works, a default installation will provide a full phpMyAdmin console with the privilege level of the MySQL configuration of WordPress.

 
II. TESTED VERSION
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1.3.0


III. PoC EXPLOIT
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Navigate to http://host/wp-content/plugins/portable-phpmyadmin/wp-pma-mod and you will be presented with the full portable-phpMyAdmin web interface without the requirement of a session or any credential.


IV. SOLUTION
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Upgrade to version 1.3.1


V. REFERENCES
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http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/portable-phpmyadmin/
http://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2012-5469


VI. TIMELINE
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10/13/2012 - Initial developer disclosure
10/14/2012 - Response from developer with commitment to fix the vulnerability
10/31/2012 - Follow-up with developer after no communication or patched release
11/16/2012 - Second attempt to follow-up with developer regarding progress/timetable
11/26/2012 - Contacted WordPress 'plugins team' about lack of progress on patched release
11/27/2012 - WordPress 'plugins team' patches software and releases version 1.3.1
12/12/2012 - Public disclosure