Cyber Resilience

CVE-2024-9947

Auth Bypass in Properfraction Profilepress ≤ 4.11.2

Published
23 October 2024
Modified
25 October 2024
Patch / advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 8.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.0053 42th percentile
Risk Priority 60 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2024-9947 is a high-severity Improper Authentication (CWE-287) vulnerability in Properfraction Profilepress. Its CVSS base score is 8.1 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique External Remote Services (T1133); ranked at the 42th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-3 (Access Enforcement) and AC-6 (Least Privilege) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The ProfilePress Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in all versions up to, and including, 4.11.1. This is due to insufficient verification on the user being returned by the social login token. This makes it possible for…

more

unauthenticated attackers to log in as any existing user on the site, such as an administrator, if they have access to the email and the user does not have an already-existing account for the service returning the token.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1133 External Remote Services Persistence
Adversaries may leverage external-facing remote services to initially access and/or persist within a network.
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
T1574.010 Services File Permissions Weakness Stealth
Adversaries may execute their own malicious payloads by hijacking the binaries used by services.
T1040 Network Sniffing Credential Access
Adversaries may passively sniff network traffic to capture information about an environment, including authentication material passed over the network.
T1134 Access Token Manipulation Stealth
Adversaries may modify access tokens to operate under a different user or system security context to perform actions and bypass access controls.
T1185 Browser Session Hijacking Collection
Adversaries may take advantage of security vulnerabilities and inherent functionality in browser software to change content, modify user-behaviors, and intercept information as part of various browser session hijacking techniques.
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2021-34621Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2024-1570Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2024-13121Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2024-1046Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2024-13120Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2024-10518Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2024-2861Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2023-23830Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2023-23996Same product: Properfraction Profilepress
CVE-2023-41953Same product: Properfraction Profilepress

Affected Assets

properfraction
profilepress
≤ 4.11.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 19 hardening rules · 8 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V6.4.4
  • V6.5.4
  • V6.5.5
  • V6.5.7

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

Mandates unique identification and authentication of organizational users before access, directly stopping improper authentication.

Requires unique identification and authentication of devices before establishing connections, preventing unauthenticated device claims.

Mandates unique identification and authentication of non-organizational users, directly addressing the weakness for external actors.

Enforces approved authorizations on files and resources so overly permissive defaults cannot be exploited.

Requires least-privilege defaults so that installed files are not world-writable by default.

Requires documented, restrictive configuration settings that cover file and directory permissions.

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.

PR.PS-01 full match
prevents

Hardened baselines and configuration management explicitly require correct default file permissions.

PR.AA-03 mostly match
prevents

PR.AA-03 directly enforces authentication mechanisms that eliminate most improper-authentication defects, yet CWE-287 spans additional vectors (missing checks, flawed protocols, session handling) that one control does not fully close.

PR.AA-04 mostly match
prevents

PR.AA-04 directly enables verification of identity assertions (mostly preventing CWE-287 in that scope) yet leaves many other authentication failure modes unaddressed (only partial prevention overall).

PR.AA-05 mostly match
prevents

Defining and enforcing least-privilege access permissions directly prevents overly permissive defaults at install time.

ID.AM-08 partial match
prevents

Lifecycle management can encompass permission settings, yet the control is too broad to specifically mitigate incorrect defaults.

PR.AA-01 partial match
prevents

PR.AA-01 supplies and governs credentials/tokens that authentication relies on, removing some weak-credential cases, yet leaves verification logic, missing checks, and protocol flaws untouched.

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.

prevents

Requiring authentication methods whose strength matches the sensitivity of the data and mandating multi-factor authentication directly blocks attempts to access resources without proving identity.

prevents

Verifying user identity before issuing replacement credentials and forcing changes after compromise reduces the likelihood that authentication bypass can be achieved through stolen or weak credentials.

prevents

Standard templates that restrict access to utility programs and host parameter settings prevent the assignment of overly permissive default permissions on critical resources.

prevents

Mandating segregated approval and oversight for non-human identities reduces the chance that weak or orphaned credentials can be exploited for unauthorized authentication.

mitigates

Requiring authentication mechanisms and technical parameters for secure connections ensures that network services verify user identity before granting access, preventing exploitation of missing or weak authentication.

prevents

Security requirements specified early and verified through testing drive the consistent implementation of authentication mechanisms, decreasing the likelihood that authentication steps are omitted or incorrectly applied.

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 (1 rule)
  • V-248827 OL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-287
RHEL 7 (3 rules)
  • V-204425 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that the SSH daemon does not allow authentication using an empty password. prevents CWE-287
  • V-204442 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-287
  • V-204424 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not allow accounts configured with blank or null passwords. prevents CWE-287
RHEL 8 (1 rule)
  • V-230492 RHEL 8 must not have the rsh-server package installed. prevents CWE-287
Ubuntu 22.04 (1 rule)
  • V-260470 Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, when booted, must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-287
Ubuntu 24.04 (2 rules)
  • V-270675 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS when booted must require authentication upon booting into single-user and maintenance modes. prevents CWE-287
  • V-270714 Ubuntu 24.04 LTS must not allow accounts configured in Pluggable Authentication Modules (PAM) with blank or null passwords. prevents CWE-287
Windows Server 2016 (2 rules)
  • V-224833 Permissions for program file directories must conform to minimum requirements. prevents CWE-276
  • V-224834 Permissions for the Windows installation directory must conform to minimum requirements. prevents CWE-276
Windows Server 2019 (2 rules)
  • V-205735 Windows Server 2019 permissions for program file directories must conform to minimum requirements. prevents CWE-276
  • V-205736 Windows Server 2019 permissions for the Windows installation directory must conform to minimum requirements. prevents CWE-276
Windows Server 2022 (2 rules)
  • V-254252 Windows Server 2022 permissions for program file directories must conform to minimum requirements. prevents CWE-276
  • V-254253 Windows Server 2022 permissions for the Windows installation directory must conform to minimum requirements. prevents CWE-276

References