CVE-2024-49273

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-49273 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Metagauss ProfileGrid WordPress plugin (profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities). This flaw affects all versions up to and including 5.9.3. The vulnerability allows an unauthenticated attacker to access unauthorized data or perform actions that should require higher privileges, due to improper access control checks in the plugin's code. As a WordPress ecosystem issue, this affects sites running the vulnerable plugin, not the underlying web server (Apache/Nginx). No public proof-of-concept (PoC) or exploit code has been released, and the vendor has not yet provided a patch.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability is specific to the WordPress plugin ecosystem. The plugin is distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository and third-party marketplaces. Users should verify the integrity of their plugin files and monitor for updates from the vendor. No known supply chain compromise has been reported.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 4.3 (Medium)
• Vector: 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 Impact: Low
• Integrity Impact: None
• Availability Impact: None

The low EPSS score (0.0%) indicates a very low probability of exploitation in the wild, but the lack of a patch increases risk for unpatched installations.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from missing authorization checks in the ProfileGrid plugin. Specifically, certain AJAX actions or REST endpoints do not verify that the requesting user has the required capabilities (e.g., manage_options, edit_posts). This allows an unauthenticated attacker to trigger functions that should be restricted to administrators or authenticated users.

Root Cause: The plugin fails to call current_user_can() or similar WordPress capability checks before executing sensitive operations. This is a classic CWE-862 (Missing Authorization) flaw.

Attack Vector: An attacker can send crafted HTTP requests to the vulnerable endpoints without authentication. For example, a request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=profilegrid_some_action may execute privileged operations.

Impact: Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of user data, modification of plugin settings, or other actions that compromise the confidentiality of the WordPress site.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we can only describe the vulnerable pattern. A typical vulnerable code snippet might look like:

// Vulnerable code (no capability check)
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_profilegrid_export_users', 'profilegrid_export_users');
function profilegrid_export_users() {
    // Export user data without checking permissions
    $users = get_users();
    // ... output CSV
}

A patched version would include:

// Patched code (with capability check)
add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_profilegrid_export_users', 'profilegrid_export_users');
function profilegrid_export_users() {
    if (!current_user_can('manage_options')) {
        wp_die('Unauthorized', 403);
    }
    $users = get_users();
    // ... output CSV
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress site with ProfileGrid plugin version <= 5.9.3 installed.
• No authentication required.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify vulnerable endpoints by analyzing the plugin's source code or using a WordPress vulnerability scanner.
2. Send a crafted HTTP request to the vulnerable AJAX action. Example using curl:

curl -X POST "http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" \
  -d "action=profilegrid_export_users" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded"

3. If successful, the response may contain sensitive data (e.g., user list, plugin configuration).

Note: No public exploit code exists; this is a hypothetical example.

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual AJAX requests to admin-ajax.php with unknown or suspicious action parameters.
• Look for requests from unauthenticated users to endpoints that should require authentication.
• Use the detection rules provided below.

Hunting:

• Search web server logs for patterns like action=profilegrid_ from IPs not associated with admin users.
• Check for unexpected data exports or configuration changes.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network:
  • HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=profilegrid_* parameters from unauthenticated sources.
  • Unusual outbound data transfers from the WordPress server (e.g., CSV exports).
• File:
  • Modified plugin files in /wp-content/plugins/profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities/.
  • Unexpected log files or temporary export files.
• System:
  • Unauthorized user accounts or changes to plugin settings.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_49273_ProfileGrid_Missing_Auth {
    meta:
        description = "Detects vulnerable ProfileGrid plugin files with missing authorization"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2024-49273"
    strings:
        $vuln_func = "wp_ajax_nopriv_" nocase
        $no_check = "current_user_can" nocase
    condition:
        $vuln_func and not $no_check
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-49273 ProfileGrid Missing Authorization Exploitation
id: 8a3b2c1d-4e5f-6a7b-8c9d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects unauthenticated AJAX requests to ProfileGrid vulnerable endpoints
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        c-uri|contains: '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'action=profilegrid_'
        sc-status: 200
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate admin actions (rare)
level: medium

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2024-49273 ProfileGrid Missing Authorization Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"POST"; http_method; content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=profilegrid_"; http_client_body; classtype:attempted-recon; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin if it is not critical to operations until a patch is released.
2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block requests to admin-ajax.php with action=profilegrid_* from unauthenticated users.
3. Monitor logs for exploitation attempts using the provided detection rules.

Long-term Fix:

• Apply the vendor's patch once released. If no patch is forthcoming, consider replacing the plugin with an alternative.
• Conduct a code review of the plugin to identify and fix missing authorization checks.

Valters IT Signature

This report was generated by Valters IT DevSecOps AI. For questions, contact security@valters.it.