CVE-2023-4631 is a medium severity vulnerability affecting the DoLogin Security WordPress plugin versions prior to 3.7. The vulnerability arises from the plugin's reliance on HTTP headers such as X-Forwarded-For to determine the IP address of incoming requests. Since these headers can be manipulated by an attacker, this leads to IP spoofing, which in turn enables an authentication bypass scenario categorized under CWE-290 (Authentication Bypass by Spoofing). Specifically, the plugin uses the spoofable IP address to make security decisions, potentially allowing unauthorized users to bypass authentication controls without valid credentials or user interaction. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3, indicating a medium severity level. The attack vector is network-based (AV:N), requires no privileges (PR:N), and no user interaction (UI:N), but it only impacts integrity (I:L) without affecting confidentiality or availability. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no official patches have been linked yet. The root cause is improper trust in client-supplied headers for security-critical decisions, a common pitfall in web application security. This vulnerability could be exploited remotely by an unauthenticated attacker to impersonate legitimate users or bypass access controls, potentially leading to unauthorized actions within the WordPress environment protected by this plugin.

For European organizations using the DoLogin Security plugin on their WordPress sites, this vulnerability could allow attackers to bypass authentication mechanisms, leading to unauthorized access to administrative or sensitive areas of their websites. This could result in integrity violations such as unauthorized content changes, defacement, or insertion of malicious code (e.g., web shells or malware). Although confidentiality and availability are not directly impacted, the integrity compromise can lead to reputational damage, loss of customer trust, and potential regulatory consequences under GDPR if personal data is indirectly exposed or manipulated. Organizations relying on this plugin for security hardening may find their defenses weakened, increasing the risk of further exploitation or lateral movement within their web infrastructure. The lack of required user interaction and the network-based attack vector make exploitation feasible remotely and at scale, especially if the plugin is widely deployed without mitigations. Given the medium severity, the impact is significant but not critical, emphasizing the need for timely remediation to prevent escalation.

European organizations should immediately audit their WordPress installations to identify the presence and version of the DoLogin Security plugin. If the plugin is installed and is a version prior to 3.7, organizations should consider the following specific mitigations: 1) Disable or remove the plugin until a patched version is available; 2) Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block or sanitize suspicious X-Forwarded-For headers or other client-supplied IP headers, ensuring only trusted proxy headers are accepted; 3) Configure the web server or reverse proxy to overwrite or strip untrusted IP headers before they reach the application; 4) Restrict administrative access by IP whitelisting or multi-factor authentication to reduce risk from authentication bypass; 5) Monitor logs for anomalous authentication attempts or IP address inconsistencies; 6) Engage with the plugin vendor or community to obtain updates or patches as soon as they are released. Additionally, organizations should review their security policies to avoid reliance on client-supplied headers for authentication or authorization decisions in future development.