CVE-2024-9262

User Meta – User Profile Builder and User management plugin <= 3.1.1 - Insecure Direct Object Reference to Sensitive Information Exposure

2024-11-08 14:02
wesley (wcraft)

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.1.2
Affected Plugin
User Meta – User Profile Builder and User management plugin
Affected Version
<= 3.1.1
CVSS
6.5Medium
Weakness type
CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key
CVE
CVE-2024-9262
View all User Meta – User Profile Builder and User management plugin vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2024-9262 is a medium-severity Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key vulnerability in the User Meta WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.1.1. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). The issue is fixed in version 3.1.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2024, reported by wesley (wcraft).

Vulnerability Overview

The User Meta – User Profile Builder and User management plugin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.1 via the getUser() due to missing validation on a user controlled key. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to obtain user meta values from form fields. Please note that this requires a site administrator to create a form that displays potentially sensitive information like password hashes. This may also be exploited by unauthenticated users if the 'user-meta-public-profile' shortcode is used insecurely.

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.

CWE-639: Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled Key

User Meta <= 3.1.1 carries this weakness at user-meta-public-profile, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 Meta the fix is 3.1.2: builds <= 3.1.1 are affected, anything from 3.1.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.1.2, 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 Meta 3.1.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-9262https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/4ed81348-7604-4858-bc8e-b4504d77ee45https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-9262

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C