CVE-2024-4958

User Registration – Custom Registration Form, Login Form, and User Profile WordPress Plugin <= 3.2.0.1 - Missing Authorization to Privilege Escalation

2024-05-31 18:57
Thanh Nam Tran

At a glance

CVE-2024-4958 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the User Registration & Membership WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.2.0.1. It carries a CVSS score of 7.1 (reachable over the network; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 3.2.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2024, reported by Thanh Nam Tran.

Vulnerability Overview

The User Registration – Custom Registration Form, Login Form, and User Profile WordPress Plugin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the 'import_form_action' function in versions up to, and including, 3.2.0.1. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level permissions and above, to import a registration form with a default user role of administrator. If an administrator approves or publishes a post or page with the shortcode to the imported form, any user can register as an administrator.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

User Registration & Membership <= 3.2.0.1 carries this weakness at import_form_action, and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For User Registration & Membership the fix is 3.2.1: builds <= 3.2.0.1 are affected, anything from 3.2.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.2.1, 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 Registration & Membership 3.2.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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