User Profile Picture <= 2.6.1 - Authenticated (Author+) Insecure Direct Object Reference to Profile Picture Update
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.6.2
- Affected Plugin
- User Profile Picture
- Affected Version
<= 2.6.1- CVSS
- 4.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
- CVE
CVE-2024-5639
At a glance
CVE-2024-5639 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the User Profile Picture WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.6.1. It carries a CVSS score of 4.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Author level or above. The issue is fixed in version 2.6.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2024, reported by JoanClarke2.
Vulnerability Overview
The User Profile Picture plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in all versions up to, and including, 2.6.1 via the 'rest_api_change_profile_image' function due to missing validation on a user controlled key. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to update the profile picture of any user.
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.
CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
User Profile Picture <= 2.6.1 carries this weakness at rest_api_change_profile_image, and reaching it takes an account at Author 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 User Profile Picture the fix is 2.6.2: builds <= 2.6.1 are affected, anything from 2.6.2 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.6.2, 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: User Profile Picture 2.6.2 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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