CVE-2024-1473 identifies an improper access control vulnerability (CWE-284) in the Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode by Colorlib WordPress plugin, versions up to and including 1.0.99. The plugin is designed to restrict access to website content during maintenance or pre-launch phases by displaying a holding page. However, due to insufficient access control on its REST API endpoints, unauthenticated attackers can query the API to retrieve the contents of posts and pages that should be hidden behind the maintenance mode. This bypasses the intended protection mechanism, exposing potentially sensitive or unpublished content. The vulnerability requires no authentication or user interaction and can be exploited remotely over the network. The CVSS 3.1 base score of 5.3 indicates a medium severity, primarily due to the confidentiality impact without affecting integrity or availability. No patches or fixes are currently linked, and no active exploitation has been reported, but the exposure of content could lead to information leakage, reputational damage, or premature disclosure of sensitive data. The vulnerability affects all versions of the plugin up to 1.0.99, which is widely used in WordPress sites for maintenance mode functionality.

The primary impact of CVE-2024-1473 is unauthorized information disclosure. Attackers can access content that site administrators intended to keep hidden during maintenance or pre-launch phases. This can lead to premature exposure of sensitive or proprietary information, internal communications, or unpublished content. For organizations, this may result in reputational harm, loss of competitive advantage, or violation of privacy and compliance requirements. Since the vulnerability does not affect data integrity or availability, it does not enable content modification or denial of service. However, the ease of exploitation without authentication increases the risk profile, especially for high-traffic or high-profile websites using the affected plugin. The exposure could also facilitate further targeted attacks by revealing internal site structure or content details. Overall, the vulnerability undermines the trust in the maintenance mode feature and can impact organizations relying on it to control content visibility.

To mitigate CVE-2024-1473, organizations should first check for and apply any official patches or updates released by Colorlib addressing this vulnerability. If no patch is available, temporarily disabling the Coming Soon & Maintenance Mode plugin or replacing it with alternative maintenance mode plugins with verified secure access controls is recommended. Additionally, administrators can restrict REST API access at the web server or application firewall level, limiting access to trusted IP addresses or authenticated users only. Implementing strict access control rules on REST API endpoints via WordPress hooks or custom code can also prevent unauthenticated content retrieval. Monitoring web server logs for unusual REST API requests and employing intrusion detection systems can help detect exploitation attempts. Finally, educating site administrators about the risks of exposing maintenance mode content and encouraging regular security audits of plugins can reduce future risks.