The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-12596 affects the LifterLMS – WP LMS for eLearning, Online Courses, & Quizzes plugin for WordPress, maintained by chrisbadgett. It stems from a missing authorization check (CWE-862) on the 'llms_delete_cert' action, which is responsible for deleting certificates or posts within the plugin. This flaw allows any authenticated user with at least Subscriber-level privileges to invoke this action and delete arbitrary posts without proper capability verification. Since WordPress Subscriber roles are typically assigned to users with minimal privileges, this vulnerability significantly lowers the barrier for exploitation. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 7.8.5 of the plugin. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3, indicating a medium severity level, with the vector showing network attack vector (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), privileges required (PR:L), no user interaction (UI:N), unchanged scope (S:U), no confidentiality or availability impact (C:N, A:N), and limited integrity impact (I:L). There are no known exploits in the wild at this time. The root cause is the lack of a proper capability check before allowing deletion actions, which violates the principle of least privilege and authorization best practices. This vulnerability could be exploited remotely by authenticated users to delete posts or certificates, potentially disrupting course content or user records.

The primary impact of this vulnerability is on data integrity, as unauthorized deletion of posts or certificates can disrupt course content, user progress records, or other critical LMS data. This can lead to administrative overhead, loss of trust from users, and potential financial or reputational damage for organizations relying on LifterLMS for eLearning delivery. Although confidentiality and availability are not directly affected, the integrity loss can indirectly impact availability if critical content is removed and not recoverable promptly. Attackers with Subscriber-level access, which is commonly granted to registered users or learners, can exploit this vulnerability, increasing the risk of insider threats or compromised accounts being leveraged. Organizations with large user bases or sensitive educational content are at higher risk. The lack of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as exploit code could be developed given the low complexity of the attack.

To mitigate this vulnerability, organizations should immediately update the LifterLMS plugin to a patched version once available from the vendor. In the absence of an official patch, administrators should implement strict role and capability management, ensuring that Subscriber-level users have minimal permissions and cannot trigger deletion actions. Custom code or security plugins can be used to enforce additional authorization checks on the 'llms_delete_cert' action. Monitoring and logging of post deletion activities should be enhanced to detect suspicious behavior early. Regular backups of course content and certificates are critical to enable recovery from unauthorized deletions. Additionally, consider restricting plugin access to trusted users only and employing multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of compromised accounts. Finally, stay informed through vendor advisories and security communities for updates or exploit reports.