dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2024-11281

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The WooCommerce Point of Sale plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in all versions up to, and including, 6.1.0. This is due to insufficient validation on the 'logged_in_user_id' value when option values are empty and the ability for attackers to change the email of arbitrary user accounts. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to change the email of arbitrary user accounts, including administrators, and reset their password to gain access to the account.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The WooCommerce Point of Sale plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to 6.1.0 due to insufficient validation on the 'logged_in_user_id' value when option values are empty. This allows unauthenticated attackers to change the email address of arbitrary user accounts (including administrators) and subsequently reset their passwords to gain full account access.

MitigationUpdate the WooCommerce Point of Sale plugin to version 6.1.1 or later immediately. If immediate updating is not possible, consider disabling the plugin or deploying WAF rules to block requests targeting the vulnerable endpoint.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify WooCommerce Point of Sale plugin is installed
    Check your WordPress plugins directory or the WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins. Look for 'WooCommerce Point of Sale' or 'woocommerce-point-of-sale'.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active in WordPress
  2. Determine the installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and find the WooCommerce Point of Sale plugin. The version number is displayed below the plugin name. Alternatively, check the main plugin file (usually /wp-content/plugins/woocommerce-point-of-sale/) for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block.
    Affected if The installed version is 6.1.0 or lower (any version up to and including 6.1.0)
  3. Check if the plugin settings allow anonymous access
    Examine the plugin configuration at WooCommerce > Point of Sale > Settings. Look for any options that control user authentication or the 'logged_in_user_id' parameter handling. Also check if the endpoint /?wc_pos_api=update_user is accessible.
    Affected if The plugin settings permit unauthenticated or weakly authenticated access to user update functions
  4. Audit administrator account email addresses
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and review the email addresses for administrator-level accounts. Check for any unexpected or unauthorized email changes that may indicate exploitation.
    Affected if Any administrator account has an email address that was not set by the legitimate account owner

You are affected if the WooCommerce Point of Sale plugin is installed with version 6.1.0 or lower and the plugin handles user data in a way that allows unauthenticated access.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the WooCommerce Point of Sale plugin to version 6.1.1 or later immediately. If immediate updating is not possible, consider disabling the plugin or deploying WAF rules to block requests targeting the vulnerable endpoint.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version after 6.1.0 (update to most recent release)

  1. Log in to WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate WooCommerce Point of Sale plugin
  4. Check current version number
  5. Update the plugin to the latest available version
  6. Verify the update completed successfully

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,770
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,832.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-11281 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data