CVE-2024-12296
Published: 12 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-12296 is a high-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Apusthemes Superio. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 25.0th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-12296 is a vulnerability in the Apus Framework plugin for WordPress that allows unauthorized modification of data, leading to privilege escalation. The issue stems from a missing capability check on the 'import_page_options' function in all versions up to and including 2.4. This flaw, classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), indicating high severity due to its network accessibility and low complexity.
Authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or higher can exploit this vulnerability to update arbitrary options on the WordPress site. By modifying site settings, they can enable user registration and change the default role for new registrations to administrator, allowing them to create accounts with full administrative privileges and gain complete control over the vulnerable site.
The vulnerability was partially fixed in version 2.4 of the Apus Framework plugin, though full remediation details are available in advisories from sources like Wordfence. Security practitioners should update to the latest version beyond 2.4 where possible and review access controls for low-privilege users on sites using this plugin, particularly in conjunction with themes like Superio Job Board from ThemeForest.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-50751
Vulnerability details
The Apus Framework plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data that can lead to privilege escalation due to a missing capability check on the 'import_page_options' function in all versions up to, and including, 2.4. This makes it…
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possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to update arbitrary options on the WordPress site. This can be leveraged to update the default role for registration to administrator and enable user registration for attackers to gain administrative user access to a vulnerable site. NOTE: This vulnerability was partially fixed in version 2.4.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Missing authorization check enables remote exploitation of public-facing WordPress plugin (T1190) for privilege escalation (T1068) via arbitrary option changes that permit creation of local administrator accounts (T1136.001).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces approved authorizations for access to system resources, directly addressing the missing capability check on the import_page_options function that allows unauthorized option modifications.
Employs least privilege to restrict Subscriber-level users from performing administrative actions like updating site options for privilege escalation.
Requires identification, reporting, and correction of flaws like the missing authorization in the Apus Framework plugin, including timely patching beyond version 2.4.