CVE-2024-12544
Published: 01 March 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-12544 is a high-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Wordpress (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 17.2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; 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-2024-12544 affects the SurveyJS: Drag & Drop WordPress Form Builder plugin for WordPress in all versions up to and including 1.12.17. The vulnerability enables arbitrary file deletion due to a missing capability check in the callback function of the SurveyJS_DeleteFile class, corresponding to CWE-862 (Missing Authorization). It carries a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Authenticated attackers with Subscriber-level access or higher can exploit this issue to delete arbitrary files on the server. Targeting critical files such as wp-config.php can readily result in remote code execution.
Patches are available via WordPress plugin trac changesets 3214665 and 3222216/surveyjs/trunk/ajax_handlers/delete_file.php, with additional details in Wordfence threat intelligence at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e9404fe4-855e-4eb4-81c4-5246f6e9be0c?source=cve. However, the function remains vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery as of version 1.12.20.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-53975
Vulnerability details
The SurveyJS: Drag & Drop WordPress Form Builder to create, style and embed multiple forms of any complexity plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to a missing capability check on the callback function of the SurveyJS_DeleteFile…
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class in all versions up to, and including, 1.12.17. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to delete arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is deleted (such as wp-config.php). This function is still vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery as of 1.12.20.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Missing authorization in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables remote exploitation by authenticated attackers, leading to arbitrary file deletion and RCE.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces approved authorizations for logical access, directly addressing the missing capability check that allows low-privilege users to perform arbitrary file deletions.
Restricts privileges to the least necessary, preventing Subscriber-level users from executing destructive file deletion operations.
Requires timely flaw remediation through patching, directly mitigating the known vulnerability in the SurveyJS plugin up to version 1.12.17.