CVE-2024-12410 is a medium-severity SQL Injection vulnerability identified in the Front End Users plugin for WordPress, developed by rustaurius. The vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 3.2.32 due to improper neutralization of special elements in the 'UserSearchField' parameter. Specifically, the plugin fails to adequately escape user-supplied input and does not use prepared statements or parameterized queries when constructing SQL commands. This allows an unauthenticated attacker to append arbitrary SQL code to existing queries, potentially extracting sensitive information from the underlying database. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-89, which covers improper neutralization of special elements used in SQL commands. The CVSS 3.1 vector indicates the attack can be performed remotely (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L), but requires high privileges (PR:H), no user interaction (UI:N), and affects confidentiality (C:H) without impacting integrity or availability. No public exploits are currently known, but the vulnerability poses a risk to any WordPress site using the affected plugin version. The lack of patches at the time of publication increases the urgency for mitigation. The vulnerability's exploitation could lead to unauthorized data disclosure, undermining the confidentiality of user and site data stored in the database.

The primary impact of CVE-2024-12410 is unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information stored in the WordPress site's database. Attackers exploiting this SQL Injection flaw can extract user data, credentials, or other confidential information, which could lead to further attacks such as identity theft, credential stuffing, or targeted phishing. Although the vulnerability does not directly affect data integrity or availability, the exposure of sensitive data can severely damage an organization's reputation and lead to regulatory compliance violations, especially under data protection laws like GDPR or CCPA. Since the vulnerability requires high privileges, exploitation might be limited to scenarios where attackers have some elevated access or can bypass privilege restrictions. However, the fact that no user interaction is needed and the attack is remotely executable increases the risk surface. Organizations running WordPress sites with this plugin are at risk of data breaches, especially if they have not applied updates or mitigations. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate threat but does not eliminate future risk.

To mitigate CVE-2024-12410, organizations should immediately audit their WordPress installations for the presence of the Front End Users plugin by rustaurius and verify the version in use. Since no official patches are currently available, administrators should consider temporarily disabling or removing the plugin until a fix is released. Implementing Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules that detect and block SQL Injection patterns targeting the 'UserSearchField' parameter can provide interim protection. Developers and site administrators should enforce strict input validation and sanitization on all user-supplied data, especially parameters used in SQL queries. Transitioning the plugin's database interactions to use parameterized queries or prepared statements is essential to prevent injection attacks. Monitoring database logs and web server logs for suspicious query patterns or unusual access attempts can help detect exploitation attempts early. Additionally, limiting database user privileges to the minimum necessary can reduce the potential impact of a successful injection. Regular backups and incident response plans should be in place to recover from any data compromise.