CVE-2024-13770
Published: 13 February 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-13770 is a high-severity Deserialization of Untrusted Data (CWE-502) vulnerability in Themerex Puzzles. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 25.5% 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 SA-22 (Unsupported System Components) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-13770 is a PHP Object Injection vulnerability (CWE-502) affecting the Puzzles | WP Magazine / Review with Store WordPress Theme + RTL theme for WordPress in all versions up to and including 4.2.4. The issue arises from deserialization of untrusted input in the 'view_more_posts' AJAX action, enabling unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary PHP objects. The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H), reflecting high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts under specific conditions.
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with high attack complexity by sending crafted requests to the affected AJAX endpoint. On its own, the theme lacks a known Property-Oriented Programming (POP) chain, resulting in no direct impact. However, if another plugin or theme on the target WordPress site provides a POP chain, exploitation could enable severe outcomes such as arbitrary file deletion, sensitive data retrieval, or remote code execution, depending on the chain's capabilities.
Advisories from Wordfence indicate that the developer has removed the theme from the repository, with no patch or update available. Security practitioners should recommend immediate replacement of the theme with a maintained alternative. Additional details are available in the Wordfence threat intelligence report and the original ThemeForest listing.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-51747
Vulnerability details
The Puzzles | WP Magazine / Review with Store WordPress Theme + RTL theme for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Object Injection in all versions up to, and including, 4.2.4 via deserialization of untrusted input 'view_more_posts' AJAX action. This makes…
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it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject a PHP Object. No known POP chain is present in the vulnerable software, which means this vulnerability has no impact unless another plugin or theme containing a POP chain is installed on the site. If a POP chain is present via an additional plugin or theme installed on the target system, it may allow the attacker to perform actions like delete arbitrary files, retrieve sensitive data, or execute code depending on the POP chain present. The developer opted to remove the software from the repository, so an update is not available and it is recommended to find a replacement software.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Direct remote exploitation of unauthenticated deserialization flaw in public-facing WordPress AJAX endpoint (T1190); secondary impacts (RCE/file ops) require external POP chain and are not inherent to this CVE alone.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly prevents PHP object injection by requiring validation of untrusted inputs prior to deserialization in the 'view_more_posts' AJAX action.
Requires timely remediation of the deserialization vulnerability through patching or replacement of the affected WordPress theme, as no update is available.
Prohibits the use of unsupported system components like the Puzzles theme removed from the repository, eliminating exposure to unpatched flaws.