Vulnerability identifier: #VU41059

Vulnerability risk: Medium

CVSSv3.1: 4.8 [CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:L/E:P/RL:O/RC:C]

CVE-ID: CVE-2014-9034

CWE-ID: CWE-19

Exploitation vector: Network

Exploit availability: Yes

Vulnerable software:
WordPress
Web applications / CMS

Vendor: WordPress.ORG

Description

The vulnerability allows a remote non-authenticated attacker to perform service disruption.

wp-includes/class-phpass.php in WordPress before 3.7.5, 3.8.x before 3.8.5, 3.9.x before 3.9.3, and 4.x before 4.0.1 allows remote attackers to cause a denial of service (CPU consumption) via a long password that is improperly handled during hashing, a similar issue to CVE-2014-9016.

Mitigation
Install update from vendor's website.

Vulnerable software versions

WordPress: 3.8 - 3.8.4, 3.9 - 3.9.2, 4.0

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External links
http://advisories.mageia.org/MGASA-2014-0493.html
http://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/30467
http://openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2014/11/25/12
http://www.debian.org/security/2014/dsa-3085
http://www.mandriva.com/security/advisories?name=MDVSA-2014:233
http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1031243
http://wordpress.org/news/2014/11/wordpress-4-0-1/

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Q & A

Can this vulnerability be exploited remotely?

Yes. This vulnerability can be exploited by a remote non-authenticated attacker via the Internet.

Is there known malware, which exploits this vulnerability?

No. We are not aware of malware exploiting this vulnerability. However, proof of concept for this vulnerability is available.