Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HSummary
CVE-2024-8277 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (CWE-288) vulnerability in Villatheme Woocommerce Photo Reviews. Its CVSS base score is 9.8 (Critical).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 26% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-14 (Permitted Actions Without Identification or Authentication) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
The WooCommerce Photo Reviews Premium plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in all versions up to and including 1.3.13.2. The flaw arises because the plugin fails to validate the user transient supplied to its login() function and does not verify the caller's identity, enabling misuse of WordPress transients that store user IDs. The vulnerability carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8 and is associated with CWE-288 and CWE-306.
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit the issue over the network to obtain a valid session as any user who dismissed an administrative notice in the preceding 30 days, a population that commonly includes administrators. A secondary, harder-to-leverage path permits login as arbitrary users when a transient containing a valid user_id value can be identified or supplied.
The current and peak EPSS score of 0.5214 reflects a material probability of exploitation, though the value has not risen from a low baseline after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-49061
Vulnerability Data
The WooCommerce Photo Reviews Premium plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in all versions up to, and including, 1.3.13.2. This is due to the plugin not properly validating what user transient is being used in the login() function…
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and not properly verifying the user's identity. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to log in as user that has dismissed an admin notice in the past 30 days, which is often an administrator. Alternatively, a user can log in as any user with any transient that has a valid user_id as the value, though it would be more difficult to exploit this successfully.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 13 hardening rules · 4 OS baselines
V6.4.3V6.6.1V12.1.3V6.2.3
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Requires a tamperproof, always-invoked reference monitor that structurally blocks bypass via any alternate path.
Enforces authorization checks on every logical access path, eliminating unauthenticated alternate channels.
Directly mandates unique identification and authentication of users before access to functions requiring identity.
Extends the same authentication requirement to non-organizational users accessing critical functionality.
Requires authentication of services before they can invoke or expose critical functions.
Explicitly identifies and limits actions permitted without authentication, preventing critical functions from being exposed.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Requiring authentication on every channel and path directly eliminates alternate-path bypasses.
Enforcing authorizations and least privilege across all access vectors prevents unauthenticated alternate paths.
Protecting networks and environments from unauthorized logical access blocks bypass via undocumented channels.
Managing identities and credentials is a prerequisite for authentication but does not itself enforce it on critical functions.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
The control explicitly calls for authentication before any critical function is reached, eliminating the possibility of bypassing authentication for high-value operations.
Security testing can detect alternate-path bypasses but does not prevent them in production.
Access control policy directly addresses alternate authentication paths by requiring all channels to enforce authentication.
Authentication information management ensures credentials and mechanisms are consistently applied across all access paths.
Access rights provisioning and review prevent bypass via unmonitored or alternate channels.
Mandating authentication requirements for critical functions at the requirements-gathering stage ensures that essential operations are not left unprotected by missing login or verification mechanisms.
Hardening callouts derived
Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).
Oracle Linux 8 (3 rules)
- V-248598 There must be no ".shosts" files on the OL 8 operating system. prevents CWE-288
- V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-288, CWE-306
- V-248585 OL 8 must require reauthentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306
Oracle Linux 9 (2 rules)
- V-271757 OL 9 file systems must not contain shosts.equiv files. prevents CWE-288
- V-271758 OL 9 file systems must not contain .shosts files. prevents CWE-288
RHEL 7 (4 rules)
- V-204440 Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating systems version 7.2 or newer using Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-288
- V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-288, CWE-306
- V-204424 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not allow accounts configured with blank or null passwords. prevents CWE-288
RHEL 8 (2 rules)
- V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-306
- V-237643 RHEL 8 must require re-authentication when using the "sudo" command. prevents CWE-306