CVE-2024-44821VulnerabilityPublished 4 Sep 2024

CVE-2024-44821: n/a

Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.3 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.3Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.4% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 36% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: Low
Integrity: None
Availability: None

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: None: The attacker is unauthorized prior to attack, and therefore does not require any access to settings or files to carry out an attack.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: Low: There is some loss of confidentiality. Access to some restricted information is obtained, but the attacker does not have control over what information is obtained, or the amount or kind of loss is limited. The information disclosure does not cause a direct, serious loss to the impacted component.
Integrity: None: There is no loss of integrity within the impacted component.
Availability: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 4 Sep 2024
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

AI-suggested

To mitigate CVE-2024-44821, organizations should implement the following specific measures: 1) Apply any official patches or updates from ZZCMS as soon as they become available to fix the captcha reuse logic. 2) If patches are not yet available, modify the checkyzm function or captcha handling code to ensure the captcha value is refreshed or regenerated after every validation attempt, regardless of success or failure. 3) Implement server-side rate limiting on captcha validation attempts to reduce the feasibility of repeated submissions and automated guessing. 4) Enhance error message handling to avoid leaking information about the correctness of captcha inputs; use generic error messages that do not reveal partial correctness. 5) Consider integrating more robust anti-bot mechanisms such as time-based tokens, behavioral analysis, or third-party captcha services that do not reuse challenges. 6) Monitor logs for unusual patterns of repeated captcha submissions from single IP addresses or clients. 7) Educate developers and administrators about secure captcha implementation best practices to prevent similar logic flaws. These targeted mitigations go beyond generic advice by focusing on the specific flaw in captcha reuse and error message leakage.

Description

ZZCMS 2023 contains a vulnerability in the captcha reuse logic located in /inc/function.php. The checkyzm function does not properly refresh the captcha value after a failed validation attempt. As a result, an attacker can exploit this flaw by repeatedly submitting the same incorrect captcha response, allowing them to capture the correct captcha value through error messages.

Impact

The primary impact of CVE-2024-44821 is the potential bypass of captcha protections, which serve as a defense against automated attacks such as credential stuffing, brute force login attempts, and spam submissions. By allowing attackers to deduce the correct captcha value through repeated submissions, the vulnerability undermines the effectiveness of this security control. This can lead to increased risk of unauthorized access attempts, account compromise, or abuse of web forms. Although the vulnerability does not directly affect system integrity or availability, the indirect consequences can be significant, especially for websites relying heavily on captcha to prevent automated abuse. Organizations with high-value user accounts or sensitive data accessible via ZZCMS 2023 platforms may face elevated risk of targeted attacks. Additionally, the flaw could facilitate further exploitation by enabling attackers to automate interactions with the system more easily. The absence of known exploits in the wild suggests limited current impact, but the vulnerability's ease of exploitation and remote nature mean it could be leveraged quickly once weaponized.

CWE-287Improper Authentication (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighOWASP Top 10 A07:2025: Authentication Failures (opens in a new tab)
When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.
MITRE discourages mapping vulnerabilities to this broad entry; the root cause is usually a more specific weakness.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use an authentication framework or library such as the OWASP ESAPI Authentication feature.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
OWASP Authentication (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V2.8.5 (opens in a new tab)
V2.8.4 (opens in a new tab)
V9.2.3 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Fake the Source of Data (opens in a new tab)
Utilizing REST's Trust in the System Resource to Obtain Sensitive Data (opens in a new tab)
Session Hijacking (opens in a new tab)
Token Impersonation (opens in a new tab)
Upload a Web Shell to a Web Server (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

github.com/gkdgkd123/codeAudit/blob/main/CVE-2024-44821%20ZZCMS2023%20%E9%AA%8C%E8%AF%81%E7%A0%81%E5%A4%8D%E7%94%A8%E9%80%BB%E8%BE%91%E6%BC%8F%E6%B4%9E.md (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 28 Feb 2026, 06:47 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-287

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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