CVE-2019-20891: Woocommerce/woocommerce Remote Code Execution Vulnerability

HIGH
Advisory Identifier: GHSA-rcmf-88p4-9wrg
CVSS 8.8
CWE-352
Published
Advisory Summary

CVE-2019-20891 is a HIGH (CVSS 8.8) remote code execution vulnerability (CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)) affecting Woocommerce/woocommerce libraries in the Packagist ecosystem. The issue involves woocommerce cross-site request forgery (csrf). Remediation is available by upgrading affected packages to version 3.6.5.

CVE-2019-20891 at a Glance

CVE Identifier CVE-2019-20891
GHSA Identifier GHSA-rcmf-88p4-9wrg
Severity HIGH
CVSS v3.1 Base Score 8.8
CWE Classification CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Affected Product Woocommerce/woocommerce
Package Ecosystem Packagist
Published Date
Last Updated

Security Impact

CVSS: 8.8

The security impact metrics below are parsed directly from the CVSS v3.1 vector string (CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).

Attack Vector Network (AV:N)
Attack Complexity Low (AC:L)
Privileges Required None (PR:N)
User Interaction Required (UI:R)
Scope Unchanged (S:U)
Confidentiality High (C:H)
Integrity High (I:H)
Availability High (A:H)

How to Fix CVE-2019-20891

To remediate this vulnerability, upgrade all affected Woocommerce/woocommerce dependencies to a patched release. Both direct and transitive dependencies should be checked, as frameworks or security libraries may pull in vulnerable versions transitively.

woocommerce/woocommerce fixed: 3.6.5
Upgrade woocommerce/woocommerce to 3.6.5
Verify Direct and Transitive Dependencies

Run the following command in your project directory to verify that all resolved dependencies use the patched release:

inspect dependencies for woocommerce/woocommerce

How to Check if You Are Affected

To determine whether your application is affected by CVE-2019-20891, inspect your project dependencies for Woocommerce/woocommerce:

inspect dependencies for woocommerce/woocommerce

Analyze the terminal output to locate any version of Woocommerce/woocommerce in your dependency tree. If any resolved version matches the vulnerable ranges listed in the table below (for example, versions earlier than 3.6.5), your application is affected.

Note: Verify declared build manifests and deployed runtime container environments.

Technical Details

Vulnerability Mechanism & Technical Analysis

This vulnerability is classified under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF), where the web application does not, or cannot, sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who sent the request, which could have originated from an unauthorized actor. In Woocommerce/woocommerce, software state validation or input boundaries are circumvented during processing. Review the official source advisory statement below for specific affected components, classes, and reproduction details.

Source Advisory Statement

WooCommerce before 3.6.5, when it handles CSV imports of products, has a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) issue with resultant stored cross-site scripting (XSS) via `includes/admin/importers/class-wc-product-csv-importer-controller.php`.

CVE-2019-20891 Affected Woocommerce/woocommerce Versions

1 component(s)
Fixed Versions:
3.6.5
Product / Package Ecosystem Affected Versions Fixed Version
woocommerce/woocommerce
Packagist
< 3.6.5
3.6.5

References

Frequently Asked Questions

What is CVE-2019-20891?
CVE-2019-20891 is a security vulnerability in Woocommerce/woocommerce involving WooCommerce Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF).
Which Woocommerce/woocommerce versions are affected?
Affected versions include releases prior to 3.6.5 across affected packages: woocommerce/woocommerce.
What version fixes CVE-2019-20891?
Upgrading to 3.6.5 (or the latest patched release for your respective branch) resolves the vulnerability.
Is woocommerce/woocommerce affected?
Yes, woocommerce/woocommerce is affected in releases prior to 3.6.5. Upgrade your dependency to 3.6.5 or later.
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2019-20891?
CVE-2019-20891 has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (HIGH) with vector string CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H.
What CWE is associated with CVE-2019-20891?
CVE-2019-20891 is classified under CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) (The web application does not, or cannot, sufficiently verify whether a request was intentionally provided by the user who sent the request, which could have originated from an unauthorized actor.).
How can I check Packagist dependencies for CVE-2019-20891?
Run the dependency tree command: 'inspect dependencies for woocommerce/woocommerce'. This command lists direct and transitive dependencies in your build configuration so you can verify if a vulnerable version is resolved.
Machine-readable OSV JSON OSV v1.5 Schema
Normalized schema output
{
  "schema_version" : "1.4.0",
  "id" : "GHSA-rcmf-88p4-9wrg",
  "modified" : "2024-01-10T21:20:18Z",
  "published" : "2022-05-24T17:21:15Z",
  "aliases" : [ "CVE-2019-20891" ],
  "summary" : "WooCommerce Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) ",
  "details" : "WooCommerce before 3.6.5, when it handles CSV imports of products, has a cross-site request forgery (CSRF) issue with resultant stored cross-site scripting (XSS) via `includes/admin/importers/class-wc-product-csv-importer-controller.php`.",
  "severity" : [ {
    "type" : "CVSS_V3",
    "score" : "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H"
  } ],
  "affected" : [ {
    "package" : {
      "ecosystem" : "Packagist",
      "name" : "woocommerce/woocommerce"
    },
    "ranges" : [ {
      "type" : "ECOSYSTEM",
      "events" : [ {
        "introduced" : "0"
      }, {
        "fixed" : "3.6.5"
      } ]
    } ]
  } ],
  "references" : [ {
    "type" : "ADVISORY",
    "url" : "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2019-20891"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/commit/fd7feb778eb45a2eb92b45eb2b4ee96ea3ac6fe7"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://blog.ripstech.com/2019/woocommerce-csrf-to-stored-xss"
  }, {
    "type" : "PACKAGE",
    "url" : "https://github.com/woocommerce/woocommerce"
  }, {
    "type" : "WEB",
    "url" : "https://raw.githubusercontent.com/woocommerce/woocommerce/master/CHANGELOG.txt"
  } ],
  "database_specific" : {
    "cwe_ids" : [ "CWE-352" ],
    "severity" : "HIGH",
    "github_reviewed" : true,
    "github_reviewed_at" : "2024-01-10T21:20:18Z",
    "nvd_published_at" : "2020-06-19T21:15:00Z"
  }
}