Missing server signature validation in OctoberCMS

Impact

This advisory affects authors of plugins and themes listed on the October CMS marketplace where an end-user will inadvertently expose authors to potential financial loss by entering their private license key into a compromised server.

It has been disclosed that a project fork of October CMS v1.0 is using a compromised gateway to access the October CMS marketplace service. The compromised gateway captures the personal/business information of users and authors, including private source code files. It was also disclosed that captured plugin files are freely redistributed to other users without authorization.

1. End-users are provided with a forked version of October CMS v1.0. The provided software is modified to use a compromised gateway server.

2. The user is instructed to enter their October CMS license key into the administration panel to access the October CMS marketplace. The key is sent to the compromised server while appearing to access the genuine October CMS gateway server.

3. The compromised gateway server uses a "man in the middle" mechanism that captures information while forwarding the request to the genuine October CMS gateway and relaying the response back to the client.

4. The compromised gateway server stores the license key and other information about the user account including client name, email address and contents of purchased plugins and privately uploaded plugin files.

5. The stored plugin files are made available to other users of the compromised gateway server.

Patches

The issue has been patched in Build 475 (v1.0.475) and v1.1.11.

Workarounds

Apply https://github.com/octobercms/october/commit/e3b455ad587282f0fbcb7763c6d9c3d000ca1e6a to your installation manually if unable to upgrade to Build 475 or v1.1.11.

Recommendations

We recommend the following steps to make sure your account information stays secure:

• Do not share your license key with anyone except October CMS.
• Check to make sure that your gateway update server has not been modified.
• Be aware of phishing websites, including other platforms that use the same appearance.
• For authors, you may contact us for help requesting the removal of affected plugins.
• Before providing plugin support, verify that the user holds a legitimate copy of the plugin.

References

Credits for research on this exploit: • Nikita Khaetsky

For more information

If you have any questions or comments about this advisory:

• Email us at hello@octobercms.com