CVE-2024-12293 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability identified in the User Role Editor plugin for WordPress, developed by shinephp. This vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 4.64.3 due to missing or incorrect nonce validation in the update_roles() function. Nonces in WordPress are security tokens used to verify that requests are intentional and originate from legitimate users. The absence or improper implementation of nonce validation allows attackers to craft malicious HTTP requests that can be executed by an authenticated administrator if they are tricked into clicking a link or visiting a malicious page. Exploiting this vulnerability enables an unauthenticated attacker to add or remove user roles arbitrarily, including escalating privileges to administrator level. This can lead to complete site takeover, data theft, or further malicious activities. The vulnerability has a CVSS 3.1 base score of 8.8, indicating high severity, with attack vector being network-based, no privileges required, low attack complexity, user interaction required, and impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. While no public exploits have been reported yet, the nature of the vulnerability and the widespread use of the User Role Editor plugin make it a significant risk. The vulnerability was published on December 17, 2024, and assigned by Wordfence. No official patches or updates are linked yet, so users must monitor vendor advisories closely.

The impact of CVE-2024-12293 is substantial for organizations running WordPress sites with the User Role Editor plugin installed. Successful exploitation allows attackers to escalate privileges to administrator level without authentication, effectively granting full control over the affected site. This can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive data, modification or deletion of content, installation of backdoors or malware, and disruption of site availability. For organizations relying on WordPress for business operations, e-commerce, or content delivery, this can result in data breaches, reputational damage, financial loss, and regulatory compliance violations. The vulnerability's ease of exploitation via social engineering (tricking an admin to click a link) increases the likelihood of attacks. Since WordPress powers a significant portion of the web, including many small to medium businesses and large enterprises, the scope of impact is broad. Additionally, compromised administrator accounts can be leveraged to pivot attacks within the hosting environment or connected systems.

To mitigate CVE-2024-12293, organizations should immediately update the User Role Editor plugin to a patched version once available from shinephp. Until a patch is released, administrators should implement the following measures: 1) Restrict administrative access to trusted IP addresses or VPNs to reduce exposure. 2) Educate administrators about the risks of clicking untrusted links and implement strict browsing policies. 3) Employ Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting role modification endpoints. 4) Monitor logs for unusual role changes or privilege escalations and enable alerting on such events. 5) Consider temporarily disabling the User Role Editor plugin if feasible. 6) Enforce multi-factor authentication (MFA) for admin accounts to reduce the impact of compromised credentials. 7) Regularly back up site data and configurations to enable recovery from compromise. These steps, combined with prompt patching, will reduce the risk and potential damage from exploitation.