WordPress Access Control <= 4.0.13 - Improper Access Control to Sensitive Information Exposure via REST API
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- WordPress Access Control
- Affected Version
<= 4.0.13- CVSS
- 5.3Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-284 · Improper Access Control
- CVE
CVE-2024-0975
At a glance
CVE-2024-0975 is a medium-severity Improper Access Control vulnerability in the WordPress Access Control WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.0.13. It carries a CVSS score of 5.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed February 2024, reported by Francesco Carlucci.
Vulnerability Overview
The WordPress Access Control plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.13 via the REST API. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass the plugin's "Make Website Members Only" feature (when unset) and view restricted page and post content.
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.
CWE-284: Improper Access Control
Reaching this weakness in WordPress Access Control <= 4.0.13 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper access control means the code decides what a caller may do using something other than their actual permissions, so the decision can be wrong without any check appearing to be missing.
Whoever can shape the request decides the answer, so the protected action runs for callers the code never meant to allow. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for WordPress Access Control yet, so installs running <= 4.0.13 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?
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. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
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