CVE-2024-13371 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) affecting the WP Job Portal plugin for WordPress, a recruitment system used by companies and job boards. The vulnerability exists because the sendEmailToJobSeeker() function lacks proper capability checks, allowing any unauthenticated user to invoke it and send arbitrary emails through the website's mail server. This means attackers can craft and send emails with arbitrary content, potentially facilitating spam, phishing, or other malicious email campaigns that appear to originate from a legitimate domain. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 2.2.6. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 5.3 (medium severity), reflecting that the attack vector is network-based, requires no privileges or user interaction, and impacts integrity but not confidentiality or availability. No patches or exploit code are currently publicly available, and no known exploitation in the wild has been reported. The vulnerability's root cause is the absence of an authorization check before sending emails, a critical security oversight in the plugin's design. This flaw could be leveraged to damage the reputation of affected organizations or to conduct targeted phishing attacks leveraging the trusted email domain of the compromised site.

The primary impact of CVE-2024-13371 is on the integrity of email communications sent from affected WordPress sites using the WP Job Portal plugin. Attackers can send arbitrary emails without authentication, potentially leading to spam dissemination, phishing campaigns, or social engineering attacks that appear to come from a legitimate company or job board. This can damage the reputation of organizations, erode user trust, and potentially lead to further compromise if recipients are tricked into divulging sensitive information or downloading malware. Although the vulnerability does not directly affect confidentiality or availability, the indirect consequences of successful phishing or spam campaigns can be severe. Organizations relying on this plugin for recruitment or job board services face risks of brand damage and increased exposure to email-based threats. The ease of exploitation and lack of required privileges increase the likelihood of abuse if the vulnerability is not remediated promptly.

To mitigate CVE-2024-13371, organizations should immediately update the WP Job Portal plugin to a version that includes proper authorization checks once available. Until an official patch is released, administrators can implement the following specific mitigations: 1) Restrict access to the email sending functionality by modifying the plugin code to add capability checks or require authentication before invoking sendEmailToJobSeeker(). 2) Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the email sending endpoint. 3) Monitor outgoing email logs for unusual patterns or spikes in email volume that may indicate exploitation attempts. 4) Implement rate limiting on email sending functions to reduce the impact of abuse. 5) Educate users and recipients about potential phishing attempts originating from the site’s domain. 6) Consider disabling the email sending feature temporarily if it is not critical to operations. These targeted steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling the vulnerable function and monitoring for exploitation indicators.