SEO LAT Auto Post <= 2.2.1 - Missing Authorization to File Overwrite/Upload (Remote Code Execution)
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- SEO LAT Auto Post
- Affected Version
<= 2.2.1- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2024-12252
At a glance
CVE-2024-12252 is a critical-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the SEO LAT Auto Post WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.2.1. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed January 2025, reported by Lucio Sá.
Vulnerability Overview
The SEO LAT Auto Post plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to file overwrite due to a missing capability check on the remote_update AJAX action in all versions up to, and including, 2.2.1. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to overwrite the seo-beginner-auto-post.php file which can be leveraged to achieve remote code execution.
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-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Reaching this weakness in SEO LAT Auto Post <= 2.2.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.
The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for SEO LAT Auto Post yet, so installs running <= 2.2.1 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
How does WordSec protect against this?
The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to SEO LAT Auto Post: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C