CVE-2024-13771 is an authentication bypass vulnerability classified under CWE-288, discovered in the uxper Civi - Job Board & Freelance Marketplace WordPress Theme plugin. The vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 2.1.4 due to a failure in validating the identity of users before permitting password changes. Specifically, the plugin allows unauthenticated attackers to change the password of any user account, including those with administrative privileges, by simply knowing the username. This bypasses normal authentication mechanisms, effectively granting full control over affected accounts. The vulnerability is remotely exploitable over the network without any privileges or user interaction, making it highly dangerous. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 9.8, indicating critical severity with network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, no user interaction, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The flaw could lead to complete site takeover, data exposure, and disruption of services. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the straightforward nature of the attack makes it likely that exploits will emerge. The vulnerability affects a popular WordPress theme used for job boards and freelance marketplaces, which are often targeted for their valuable user data and administrative access. No official patches or updates have been linked yet, so users must monitor vendor communications closely.

The impact of CVE-2024-13771 is severe for organizations using the affected WordPress theme. Successful exploitation allows attackers to reset passwords of any user account, including administrators, without authentication. This can lead to full site compromise, enabling attackers to steal sensitive data, modify or delete content, inject malicious code, or disrupt services. For job board and freelance marketplace sites, this could result in exposure of personal and financial information of users, loss of business reputation, and potential legal liabilities. The ease of exploitation and lack of required privileges or user interaction significantly increase the risk of widespread attacks. Organizations relying on this theme for critical business functions face potential operational downtime and data breaches. Additionally, compromised sites could be used as launchpads for further attacks within corporate networks or to distribute malware to users.

To mitigate CVE-2024-13771, organizations should immediately verify if they are using the affected versions of the Civi - Job Board & Freelance Marketplace WordPress Theme. Since no official patches are currently available, temporary mitigations include disabling the password reset functionality provided by the theme or restricting access to password reset endpoints via web application firewalls (WAFs) or server-level access controls. Administrators should enforce strong monitoring of user account changes and review logs for suspicious password reset attempts. It is also advisable to implement multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all administrative accounts to reduce the risk of account takeover. Regular backups should be maintained to enable recovery in case of compromise. Organizations should subscribe to vendor and security mailing lists to apply official patches as soon as they are released. Additionally, consider isolating the WordPress environment and limiting plugin usage to trusted and actively maintained components.