Case Study: WordPress Intranet — Static Code Analysis

Client: Corporate intranet, Colombia, 2025

Engagement type: White-box web application penetration test / source code review

Executive Summary

Full source code review of a private WordPress intranet used by a Colombian company. The assessment revealed 20 vulnerabilities across the codebase, server configuration, and third-party integrations — including hardcoded credentials for external HR and payment systems that could allow complete account takeover and financial data exposure.

Findings (20 Total)

• Critical (3): Hardcoded plaintext API keys and credentials for external HR platform and payment processor embedded in custom plugin source code
• Critical (1): SQL injection in custom reporting module — unauthenticated, full database read access
• High (4): Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) allowing any authenticated user to access any other employee's documents
• High (2): Stored XSS in employee profile fields, no output encoding
• Medium (6): Missing CSRF tokens on state-changing forms, outdated dependencies with known CVEs, overly permissive file uploads
• Low (4): Information disclosure, missing security headers, verbose error messages in production

Methodology

Static code analysis using manual review and automated scanning. Dynamic testing against a staging environment. OWASP Testing Guide v4 methodology. Findings validated with proof-of-concept exploits for all critical and high issues.

Outcome

All 20 vulnerabilities documented with CVSS v3.1 scores, exploit steps, and specific remediation guidance. Client applied all remediations within 2 weeks. Re-test confirmed successful closure of all critical and high findings.

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