A recently discovered vulnerability in the LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress has raised significant security concerns, considering it is installed on over 6 million sites. The flaw, identified as CVE-2024-50550, involves issues with the plugin’s role simulation feature, which, under certain conditions, allows unauthorized visitors to gain administrator-level access. This vulnerability is particularly worrisome because of the weak security hash checks that can be easily brute-forced when specific settings in the plugin’s Crawler feature are enabled, such as high run durations and zero load limits.
Vulnerability Exploitation Conditions
The primary conditions under which the vulnerability can be exploited revolve around the plugin’s Crawler feature and role simulation for users with administrator privileges. When the Crawler feature is enabled, the run duration is set between 2,500-4,000 seconds, and the server load limit is zero, the security hashes become significantly vulnerable. Additionally, activating role simulation for administrators creates an environment where these weaknesses can be leveraged by malicious actors. Due to the ease with which security hashes can be brute-forced under these conditions, this flaw poses a severe risk of unauthorized access. Once inside, attackers can install malicious plugins, potentially causing widespread damage and data breaches.
Response and Recommendations
A newly discovered security vulnerability in the LiteSpeed Cache plugin used by WordPress has raised serious concerns, especially because this plugin is installed on over 6 million websites. This flaw, officially identified as CVE-2024-50550, centers around problems with the plugin’s role simulation feature. Under particular conditions, this issue allows unauthorized users to gain administrator-level access to a site. One of the disturbing aspects of this vulnerability is its reliance on weak security hash checks, which can be easily brute-forced. This is especially problematic when certain settings within the plugin’s Crawler feature are enabled. Specifically, high run durations and zero load limits make the vulnerability even more exploitable. Given the extensive use of the LiteSpeed Cache plugin, this security flaw has the potential to affect millions of websites, potentially exposing them to malicious attacks. Site administrators are strongly urged to address this vulnerability by updating the plugin and reviewing their settings to ensure their websites remain secure.