CVE-2024-11350

AdForest <= 5.1.6 - Privilege Escalation via Password Reset/Account Takeover

2024-12-20 00:00
Tonn

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 5.1.7
Affected Theme
AdForest
Affected Version
<= 5.1.6
CVSS
9.8Critical
Weakness type
CWE-640 · Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password
CVE
CVE-2024-11350
View all AdForest vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2024-11350 is a critical-severity Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password vulnerability in the AdForest WordPress theme, affecting versions <= 5.1.6. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 5.1.7; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2024, reported by Tonn.

Vulnerability Overview

The AdForest theme for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation via account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 5.1.6. This is due to the plugin not properly validating a user's identity prior to updating their password through the adforest_reset_password() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change arbitrary user's passwords, including administrators, and leverage that to gain access to their account.

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-640: Weak Password Recovery Mechanism for Forgotten Password

AdForest <= 5.1.6 carries this weakness at adforest_reset_password(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A weak password recovery mechanism means the path that lets someone back into an account without their password is easier to complete than the password itself.

An attacker takes over an account through the recovery flow without ever seeing the password, and on an administrator account that is full control of the site. For AdForest the fix is 5.1.7: builds <= 5.1.6 are affected, anything from 5.1.7 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 5.1.7, 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: AdForest 5.1.7 closes this, and updating the theme is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-11350https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/4ebb766a-44e9-460c-be84-356b7403e593https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-11350

Related records

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