CVE-2024-4552 is an authentication bypass vulnerability classified under CWE-288 affecting the Social Login Lite For WooCommerce plugin for WordPress, versions up to and including 1.6.0. The root cause is insufficient verification of the user identity during the social login process, allowing an attacker to supply an email address and bypass authentication checks. This flaw enables unauthenticated remote attackers to log in as any existing user on the affected WordPress site, including high-privilege accounts such as administrators. The vulnerability does not require any user interaction or prior privileges, and the attack vector is network-based, making it highly exploitable. The CVSS v3.1 base score is 9.8, reflecting critical severity with impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Exploiting this vulnerability could lead to complete site compromise, data theft, unauthorized changes, and potential disruption of e-commerce operations. Although no public exploits have been reported yet, the nature of the vulnerability and the widespread use of WooCommerce and WordPress make it a significant threat. The vulnerability was published on June 4, 2024, and is assigned by Wordfence. No patch links are currently provided, indicating that users must monitor vendor updates or apply temporary mitigations.

The impact of CVE-2024-4552 is severe for organizations using the Social Login Lite For WooCommerce plugin. Successful exploitation allows attackers to impersonate any user, including administrators, leading to full site takeover. This compromises confidentiality by exposing sensitive customer and business data, integrity by allowing unauthorized modifications to site content and orders, and availability by potentially disrupting e-commerce operations. Attackers could steal customer information, manipulate transactions, inject malicious code, or lock out legitimate users. Given WooCommerce's popularity in e-commerce, this vulnerability threatens financial loss, reputational damage, regulatory penalties, and operational downtime. The ease of exploitation without authentication or user interaction increases the likelihood of attacks, especially on high-traffic online stores. Organizations worldwide relying on this plugin face significant risks until the vulnerability is remediated.

To mitigate CVE-2024-4552, organizations should urgently take the following specific actions: 1) Immediately check for updates from the plugin vendor and apply any patches once available. 2) If no patch is available, disable the Social Login Lite For WooCommerce plugin temporarily to prevent exploitation. 3) Implement additional access controls on the WordPress admin area, such as IP whitelisting or two-factor authentication, to reduce risk exposure. 4) Monitor authentication logs for suspicious login attempts, especially those involving social login. 5) Restrict or validate email addresses accepted during social login through custom code or security plugins to ensure they match verified users. 6) Conduct a thorough security audit of the WordPress environment to detect any signs of compromise. 7) Educate site administrators on the risks and encourage prompt reporting of anomalies. 8) Consider alternative social login solutions with verified security track records until this issue is resolved. These steps go beyond generic advice by focusing on immediate plugin management, enhanced monitoring, and layered defenses tailored to this vulnerability.