Houzez Login Register <= 3.2.5 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Privilege Escalation via Account Takeover
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.3.0
- Affected Plugin
- Houzez Login Register
- Affected Version
<= 3.2.5- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
- CVE
CVE-2024-21743
At a glance
CVE-2024-21743 is a high-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the Houzez Login Register WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.2.5. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.3.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2024, reported by luc.
Vulnerability Overview
The Houzez Login Register plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 3.2.5. This is due to the houzez_agency_agent_update function not properly verifying a user's identity prior to allowing them to update user details like email address. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to change any user's email, including administrators and reset the password therefore gaining access to the account.
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 interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
Reaching this weakness in Houzez Login Register <= 3.2.5 takes an account at Subscriber level or above. Authorization bypass through a user-controlled key, often called insecure direct object reference, means the application looks up a record by an identifier from the request without checking that the caller owns it.
Changing a number in the request is enough to read or modify other users' records, which on commerce and membership sites means customer data. For Houzez Login Register the fix is 3.3.0: builds <= 3.2.5 are affected, anything from 3.3.0 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.3.0, 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: Houzez Login Register 3.3.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Houzez Login Register
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