CVE-2024-8247 is a critical privilege escalation vulnerability identified in the contrid Newsletters plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 4.9.9.2. The root cause is improper privilege management (CWE-269), where the plugin fails to restrict updates to user meta fields via screen options. Specifically, authenticated users with subscriber-level access or higher who have been granted access to the Sent & Draft Emails page can manipulate user meta data to escalate their privileges to administrator. This occurs because the plugin does not validate or restrict which user meta keys can be modified, allowing an attacker to overwrite critical privilege-related metadata. The vulnerability requires that an administrator has previously granted the lower-privileged user access to certain plugin pages, which is not default behavior but can be configured. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 8.8 (high), reflecting network attack vector, low attack complexity, privileges required but no user interaction, and full impact on confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Although no known exploits are currently reported in the wild, the vulnerability poses a significant risk due to the potential for complete site takeover. The lack of available patches at the time of disclosure means that mitigation relies on restricting user permissions and monitoring for suspicious activity. This vulnerability highlights the importance of strict access control and validation of user meta updates in WordPress plugins.

If exploited, this vulnerability allows an attacker with minimal privileges (subscriber-level or above) to escalate their access to that of an administrator, effectively gaining full control over the affected WordPress site. This can lead to unauthorized content modification, data theft, site defacement, installation of backdoors or malware, and disruption of site availability. The compromise of administrator privileges undermines the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the entire website and potentially the hosting environment. Organizations relying on the Newsletters plugin risk significant operational and reputational damage. The attack vector is remote and requires only authenticated access, which may be easier to obtain if user accounts are weakly protected or if permissions are overly permissive. The scope of impact includes any WordPress site using the vulnerable plugin version and granting access to the relevant plugin pages. Given WordPress's widespread use globally, the potential impact is broad, especially for sites that use this plugin for email marketing and communication.

Until an official patch is released, organizations should immediately audit and restrict user permissions related to the Newsletters plugin, specifically revoking access to the Sent & Draft Emails page for all users except trusted administrators. Review and minimize the number of users with subscriber-level or higher privileges who have access to plugin management pages. Implement strong authentication controls such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) to reduce the risk of account compromise. Monitor logs for unusual activity related to user meta updates or privilege changes. Consider temporarily disabling or uninstalling the Newsletters plugin if it is not critical to operations. Once a patch is available, apply it promptly. Additionally, implement a web application firewall (WAF) with rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting user meta updates in the plugin. Regularly review WordPress user roles and capabilities to ensure the principle of least privilege is enforced. Conduct security awareness training for administrators to avoid granting unnecessary plugin access.