Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.19
- Affected Plugin
- Crypto
- Affected Version
<= 2.18- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-288 · Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
- CVE
CVE-2024-9989
At a glance
CVE-2024-9989 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel vulnerability in the Crypto WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.18. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.19; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2024, reported by István Márton.
Vulnerability Overview
The Crypto plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including, 2.18. This is due to a limited arbitrary method call to 'crypto_connect_ajax_process::log_in' function in the 'crypto_connect_ajax_process' function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to log in as any existing user on the site, such as an administrator, if they have access to the username.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-288: Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel
Crypto <= 2.18 carries this weakness at crypto_connect_ajax_process, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Authentication bypass through an alternate path means the application has a second route to a protected action that skips the checks the primary route performs.
The protection on the main path becomes irrelevant, because the attacker simply uses the route that never asks. For Crypto the fix is 2.19: builds <= 2.18 are affected, anything from 2.19 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.19, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Crypto 2.19 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
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