Raw vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HCVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.
Summary
CVE-2024-9989 is a critical-severity Authentication Bypass Using an Alternate Path or Channel (CWE-288) vulnerability in Odude Crypto Tool. 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 6% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-25 (Reference Monitor) and AC-3 (Access Enforcement) — 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 Crypto plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to and including 2.18. The flaw stems from insufficient restrictions on method invocation within the crypto_connect_ajax_process function, which permits a limited arbitrary call to crypto_connect_ajax_process::log_in. This issue is tracked as CVE-2024-9989 with a CVSS 3.1 score of 9.8 and is associated with CWE-288.
Unauthenticated attackers who know a valid username can exploit the vulnerability over the network to log in as that user, including site administrators, without any user interaction or credentials. Successful exploitation grants full access to the targeted account and its privileges.
References point to a patched changeset in the plugin repository and Wordfence threat intelligence entries that identify the affected code paths in class-crypto_connect_ajax_register.php. Site owners should update the Crypto plugin to a version newer than 2.18 to remediate the issue.
The EPSS score for this CVE stands at 0.9289 with no material increase after disclosure.
OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-50268
Vulnerability Data
The Crypto plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authentication bypass in versions up to, and including, 2.18. This is due to a limited arbitrary method call to 'crypto_connect_ajax_process::log_in' function in the 'crypto_connect_ajax_process' function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers…
more
to log in as any existing user on the site, such as an administrator, if they have access to the username.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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- 7 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
V6.4.3V6.6.1V12.1.3
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.
Mandates unique identification and authentication for all organizational users, covering the primary authentication requirement.
Controls all external and key internal interfaces, reducing the chance of unauthenticated alternate channels.
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.
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.
Security testing can detect alternate-path bypasses but does not prevent them in production.
Secure authentication control directly mitigates bypass by requiring strong, consistent authentication on all paths.
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.
Privileged access rights control reduces risk of bypass through elevated or alternate paths.
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 (2 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
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 (3 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
- V-204424 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not allow accounts configured with blank or null passwords. prevents CWE-288