Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors <= 4.7.1 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Author+) Arbitrary User Email Update and Account Takeover
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 4.7.2
- Affected Plugin
- Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors
- Affected Version
<= 4.7.1- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
- CVE
CVE-2024-9215
At a glance
CVE-2024-9215 is a high-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.7.1. 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 Author level or above. The issue is fixed in version 4.7.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2024, reported by wesley (wcraft).
Vulnerability Overview
The Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference to Privilege Escalation/Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 4.7.1 via the action_edited_author() due to missing validation on the 'authors-user_id' user controlled key. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to update arbitrary user accounts email addresses, including administrators, which can then be leveraged to reset that user's account password and gain access.
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
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors <= 4.7.1 carries this weakness at authors-user_id, 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 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors the fix is 4.7.2: builds <= 4.7.1 are affected, anything from 4.7.2 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 4.7.2, 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: Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors 4.7.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors
- 8.8CVE-2025-47496: PublishPress Authors <= 4.7.5 Local File Inclusion
CVE-2025-47496 - 5.3CVE-2026-25309: Co-Authors Missing Authorization
CVE-2026-25309 - 4.9CVE-2025-26886: PublishPress Authors <= 4.7.3 SQL Injection
CVE-2025-26886 - 4.3CVE-2026-25330: PublishPress Authors <= 4.10.1 Missing Authorization
CVE-2026-25330
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C