CVE-2024-13376
Published: 14 March 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-13376 is a high-severity Improper Privilege Management (CWE-269) vulnerability in Themeforest (inferred from references). Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 25.7th 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-2024-13376 affects the Industrial theme for WordPress, specifically due to a missing capability check on the _ajax_get_total_content_import_items() function. This vulnerability allows unauthorized modification of data, leading to privilege escalation, in all versions up to and including 1.7.8. It has been assigned 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) and is associated with CWE-269 (Improper Privilege Management). The issue was published on March 14, 2025.
Authenticated attackers with subscriber-level access or higher can exploit this vulnerability remotely with low complexity and no user interaction required. By abusing the flawed AJAX function, they can update arbitrary WordPress options, such as changing the default role for new user registrations to administrator and enabling open registration. This enables attackers to create accounts with full administrative privileges on the targeted site.
Advisories from Wordfence provide detailed threat intelligence on the vulnerability, while the theme's page on ThemeForest offers additional context on the Industrial theme. Security practitioners should review these resources for patch information and update to a fixed version of the theme if available.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-54069
Vulnerability details
The Industrial theme for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data that can lead to privilege escalation due to a missing capability check on the _ajax_get_total_content_import_items() function in all versions up to, and including, 1.7.8. This makes it possible…
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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.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Missing capability check on AJAX function allows authenticated low-privileged users to update arbitrary WordPress options, directly enabling privilege escalation via default role change to administrator and open registration for admin account creation.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces least privilege by requiring capability checks on sensitive functions like the vulnerable AJAX endpoint, preventing subscriber-level users from modifying arbitrary WordPress options and escalating privileges.
Mandates enforcement of access control policies, directly addressing the missing capability check that allows unauthorized data modifications leading to privilege escalation.
Requires timely identification, reporting, and remediation of flaws such as the missing capability check in the Industrial theme, preventing exploitation through patching.