CVE-2024-13656
Published: 12 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-13656 is a high-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Mvpthemes Click Mag. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Application or System Exploitation (T1499.004); ranked at the 24.1th 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-2024-13656 is a vulnerability in the Click Mag - Viral WordPress News Magazine/Blog Theme for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 3.6.0. It stems from a missing capability check in the propanel_of_ajax_callback() function, enabling unauthorized modification of data (CWE-862). The issue has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H), rated High due to its potential for integrity and availability impacts.
Authenticated attackers with subscriber-level access or higher can exploit this vulnerability remotely without user interaction. By leveraging the flawed AJAX callback, they can delete arbitrary WordPress option values, which may trigger site errors and result in a denial of service for legitimate users.
Advisories, including the Wordfence threat intelligence report at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ee5df5fe-4213-4d36-aa8f-7eb2710c32b6?source=cve, provide detailed analysis. The theme's page on ThemeForest at https://themeforest.net/item/click-mag-viral-wordpress-news-magazineblog-theme/18081003 offers additional context on the software.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-51708
Vulnerability details
The Click Mag - Viral WordPress News Magazine/Blog Theme theme for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data that can lead to a denial of service due to a missing capability check on the propanel_of_ajax_callback() function in all versions…
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up to, and including, 3.6.0. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to delete arbitrary option values on the WordPress site. This can be leveraged to delete an option that would create an error on the site and deny service to legitimate users.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Missing capability check in AJAX handler directly enables authenticated remote deletion of WordPress options, resulting in application-level denial of service via exploitation.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Enforces approved authorizations for logical access to system resources, directly addressing the missing capability check in the AJAX callback that allows unauthorized data modification.
Restricts user privileges to the minimum necessary, preventing subscriber-level accounts from executing high-privilege actions like deleting arbitrary WordPress options.
Requires identification, reporting, and correction of system flaws, enabling timely patching of the vulnerable theme to eliminate the unauthorized modification capability.