CVE-2024-13833 is a vulnerability identified in the Album Gallery – WordPress Gallery plugin developed by awordpresslife, affecting all versions up to and including 1.6.3. The root cause is unsafe deserialization of untrusted input from the gallery meta data, which allows PHP Object Injection (CWE-502). This vulnerability enables an authenticated attacker with Editor-level or higher privileges to inject malicious PHP objects during the deserialization process. However, the plugin itself does not contain a gadget or POP (Property Oriented Programming) chain necessary to exploit this injection for malicious effects. The exploitation potential arises only if another installed plugin or theme contains a suitable POP chain, which can be leveraged to perform dangerous actions such as arbitrary file deletion, sensitive data retrieval, or remote code execution. The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.2, indicating high severity due to network attack vector, low attack complexity, and high impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. No user interaction is required beyond authentication, and no known exploits have been reported in the wild as of the publication date. The vulnerability was reserved in early February 2025 and published in March 2025. The threat is significant for WordPress sites using this plugin, especially those with multiple plugins or themes that may contain exploitable POP chains. The lack of an official patch link suggests that mitigation may currently rely on access control and plugin/theme audits.

The impact of CVE-2024-13833 can be severe for organizations running WordPress sites with the vulnerable Album Gallery plugin. If exploited, attackers with Editor-level access can escalate their capabilities to perform critical actions such as deleting arbitrary files, accessing sensitive information, or executing arbitrary code on the server, depending on the presence of a POP chain in other installed components. This can lead to website defacement, data breaches, service disruption, and potentially full server compromise. The requirement for authenticated access limits the attack surface to users with elevated privileges, but many WordPress sites have multiple editors or contributors, increasing risk. The vulnerability could be leveraged in targeted attacks against high-value websites, including e-commerce, media, and corporate portals, resulting in reputational damage, financial loss, and regulatory penalties. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk but does not preclude future exploitation, especially as attackers develop POP chains or combine this vulnerability with others.

1. Immediately restrict Editor-level and higher user permissions to trusted personnel only, minimizing the number of users who can exploit this vulnerability. 2. Conduct a thorough audit of all installed plugins and themes to identify any that contain PHP Object Injection POP chains, and remove or update them if possible. 3. Monitor WordPress logs and server activity for unusual behavior indicative of exploitation attempts, such as unexpected file deletions or code execution. 4. If feasible, disable or uninstall the Album Gallery – WordPress Gallery plugin until a patch or update is released by the vendor. 5. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious deserialization payloads targeting the gallery meta data. 6. Regularly update WordPress core, plugins, and themes to the latest versions to reduce the risk of chained exploits. 7. Employ principle of least privilege for all WordPress user roles and consider multi-factor authentication to reduce the risk of compromised credentials. 8. Engage with the plugin vendor or community to track patch releases and apply them promptly once available.