Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors: Privilege escalation or authentication bypass
Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors is affected by privilege escalation or authentication bypass. Exploitation requires at least author-level access. A successful request can grant permissions or access that the caller should not possess.
- Component
- Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors
- Plugin slug
publishpress-authors- Affected
- See vendor advisory
- Safe version
- See mitigation notes
- Published
- Oct 17, 2024
This CVE was published Oct 17, 2024 and is one of 5 known issues for this plugin.
Update, patch or deactivate.
Update Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors to a release outside the affected range, or disable and remove it until a fixed version is available.
No confirmed safe version is listed. Consider a vendor-supported patch or temporarily restricting the affected functionality while you assess the risk.
Deactivate only when warranted by your risk profile, or when advised by your hosting provider in the limited circumstances where the vulnerability cannot otherwise be mitigated. If you’re unsure which action is appropriate, contact Fused or your hosting provider for guidance.
Technical description
The Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference to Privilege Escalation/Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 4.7.1 via the action_edited_author() due to missing validation on the 'authors-user_id' user controlled key. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to update arbitrary user accounts email addresses, including administrators, which can then be leveraged to reset that user's account password and gain access.
CVE / CNA vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H