A vulnerability advisory was issued regarding two WordPress themes available on ThemeForest that could enable hackers to delete arbitrary files and inject malicious scripts into websites.
Two WordPress Themes Sold On ThemeForest
The two WordPress themes in question have over half a million sales combined.
The two themes are:
- Betheme theme for WordPress (306,362 sales)
- The Enfold – Responsive Multi-Purpose Theme for WordPress (260,607 sales)
Betheme Theme for WordPress Vulnerability
Wordfence reported that the Betheme theme contained a PHP Object Injection vulnerability, classified as a high threat. Wordfence was discreet about the specifics but mentioned that such vulnerabilities usually occur when user input is not properly filtered.
This is how Wordfence described it:
"The Betheme theme for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 27.5.6 via deserialization of untrusted input of the ‘mfn-page-items’ post meta value. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject a PHP Object. No known POP chain is present in the vulnerable plugin.
If a POP chain is present via an additional plugin or theme installed on the target system, it could allow the attacker to delete arbitrary files, retrieve sensitive data, or execute code.”
Has Betheme Theme Been Patched?
Betheme Theme for WordPress received a patch on August 30, 2024. However, Wordfence’s advisory hasn’t acknowledged it yet. It is recommended that users update their theme to the latest version, which is Version 27.5.7.1.
The Enfold – Responsive Multi-Purpose Theme for WordPress
The Enfold Responsive Multi-Purpose WordPress theme has a different issue, rated with a lower severity of 6.4. Unfortunately, no fix has been issued for this vulnerability.
A Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability was identified due to a failure to sanitize inputs.
Wordfence describes the vulnerability:
“The Enfold – Responsive Multi-Purpose Theme theme for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the ‘wrapper_class’ and ‘class’ parameters in all versions up to, and including, 6.0.3 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.”
Enfold Vulnerability Has Not Been Patched
As of this writing, the Enfold – Responsive Multi-Purpose Theme for WordPress has not been patched and remains vulnerable. The last update to the theme was on August 19, 2024.
Wordfence’s advisory warned:
“No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability’s details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization’s risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.”
Read the advisories:
Betheme <= 27.5.6 – Authenticated (Contributor+) PHP Object Injection
Enfold <= 6.0.3 – Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via wrapper_class and class Parameters
