CVE-2017-8295 Auth bypass in n/a

Medium 5.9 Published 4 May 2017 Updated 5 Aug 2024

Attackers can reset arbitrary user passwords by manipulating the Host header in password reset emails, leading to account takeover.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: Available

What is CVE-2017-8295?

CVE-2017-8295 is a medium-severity authentication bypass vulnerability in Wordpress Wordpress, published on 4 May 2017. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

WordPress through 4.7.4 relies on the Host HTTP header for a password-reset e-mail message, which makes it easier for remote attackers to reset arbitrary passwords by making a crafted wp-login.php?action=lostpassword request and then arranging for this message to bounce or be resent, leading to transmission of the reset key to a mailbox on an attacker-controlled SMTP server. This is related to problematic use of the SERVER_NAME variable in wp-includes/pluggable.php in conjunction with the PHP mail function. Exploitation is not achievable in all cases because it requires at least one of the following: (1) the attacker can prevent the victim from receiving any e-mail messages for an extended period of time (such as 5 days), (2) the victim's e-mail system sends an autoresponse containing the original message, or (3) the victim manually composes a reply containing the original message.

Weakness: CWE-640

Which versions are affected by CVE-2017-8295?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Wordpress Wordpress.

How do I fix CVE-2017-8295?

Apply the vendor's patch.

Upgrade, and rotate credentials and sessions that may have been exposed. More about Authentication bypass.

Is CVE-2017-8295 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2017-8295 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Public exploit code: 1 Exploit-DB entry and 3 proofs of concept on GitHub.

All Wordpress Wordpress vulnerabilities

Sources

Also known as DEBIAN-CVE-2017-8295, GHSA-xr65-2gpf-fj8v, UBUNTU-CVE-2017-8295.