CVE-2024-13686 is a vulnerability identified in the VW Storefront theme for WordPress, specifically due to a missing authorization check (CWE-862) in the function vw_storefront_reset_all_settings(). This function allows resetting all theme settings but fails to verify whether the authenticated user has the necessary capability to perform this action. As a result, any authenticated user with at least Subscriber-level access can invoke this function and reset the theme settings without proper authorization. The vulnerability affects all versions of the VW Storefront theme up to and including version 0.9.9. The lack of capability checks means that low-privileged users can cause unauthorized changes to the theme configuration, which could disrupt the website’s appearance or functionality. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 4.3 (medium severity), with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N, indicating that the attack can be performed remotely over the network with low attack complexity, requires low privileges (authenticated user), no user interaction, and impacts integrity only (no confidentiality or availability impact). There are currently no known exploits in the wild, and no patches have been published at the time of this report. The vulnerability was reserved on 2025-01-23 and published on 2025-03-04 by Wordfence. This issue highlights the importance of proper authorization checks in WordPress themes, especially for functions that modify critical settings.

The primary impact of this vulnerability is unauthorized modification of theme settings by low-privileged authenticated users. This can lead to disruption of website appearance, loss of customized configurations, or potential misconfiguration that could affect user experience or business operations. Although the vulnerability does not directly expose sensitive data or cause denial of service, the integrity of the website’s presentation layer is compromised. For organizations relying on the VW Storefront theme, especially e-commerce sites or businesses with customer-facing portals, this could result in reputational damage or operational disruptions. Attackers with Subscriber-level access could exploit this to reset settings repeatedly, causing administrative overhead and potential downtime while settings are restored. Since the vulnerability requires authentication, the risk is limited to environments where untrusted users can register or obtain Subscriber access, such as public-facing WordPress sites with open registration. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the vulnerability remains a concern until patched.

Until an official patch is released, organizations should implement several specific mitigations: 1) Restrict user registration or limit Subscriber-level access to trusted users only, minimizing the pool of potential attackers. 2) Employ WordPress security plugins or custom code to enforce capability checks on the vw_storefront_reset_all_settings() function, effectively adding missing authorization controls. 3) Monitor logs and audit trails for unusual activity related to theme settings resets or changes initiated by low-privileged users. 4) Consider temporarily disabling or replacing the VW Storefront theme with a secure alternative if feasible. 5) Keep WordPress core and all plugins/themes updated to reduce attack surface. 6) Educate administrators to verify theme settings regularly and maintain backups to quickly restore configurations if unauthorized resets occur. 7) Use web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block suspicious requests targeting theme functions. These targeted steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on controlling access, monitoring specific function calls, and preparing for rapid recovery.