# CVE-2022-2891: WP 2FA < 2.3.0 - Time-Based Side-Channel Attack

> Attackers can exploit timing differences to leak two-factor authentication codes, potentially bypassing 2FA security in the WP 2FA plugin.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.9 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 10 Oct 2022
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-354f-972f-vpc2

## What is CVE-2022-2891?

CVE-2022-2891 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Unknown WP 2FA, published on 10 Oct 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The WP 2FA WordPress plugin before 2.3.0 uses comparison operators that don't mitigate time-based attacks, which could be abused to leak information about the authentication codes being compared.

Weakness: CWE-203 (Observable Discrepancy)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2022-2891?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Wpwhitesecurity Wp 2fa.

## How do I fix CVE-2022-2891?

No fix has been published for CVE-2022-2891 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2022-2891 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-2891 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Unknown WP 2FA

- [CVE-2022-1527](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-1527/): WP 2FA < 2.2.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2023-6506](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-6506/): WP 2FA <= 2.5.0 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Arbitrary Email Sending (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2022-2891 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2022-2891 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Unknown WP 2FA, published on 10 Oct 2022. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2022-2891 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Unknown WP 2FA. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2891/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2891/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2022-2891
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2022-2891
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2022-2891

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2891/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.