dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2024-12259

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable 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 CRM WordPress Plugin – RepairBuddy plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation via account takeover in all versions up to, and including, 3.8120. This is due to the plugin not properly validating a user's identity prior to updating their email through the wc_update_user_data AJAX action. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to change arbitrary user's email addresses, including administrators, and leverage that to reset the user's password and gain access to their 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 RepairBuddy WordPress plugin's wc_update_user_data AJAX action lacks proper user identity validation before allowing email address updates. Any authenticated user with subscriber-level access or higher can modify arbitrary user email addresses—including administrator accounts—by supplying the target user ID and new email. This enables password reset-based account takeover of privileged accounts.

MitigationUpgrade the RepairBuddy plugin to a version beyond 3.8120 that implements proper authorization checks validating the requesting user's capability to modify target user data, or temporarily disable the wc_update_user_data AJAX action until a patch is available.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check if RepairBuddy plugin is installed and active
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and verify RepairBuddy is listed as active, or use WP-CLI: wp plugin list --status=active --field=name
    Affected if RepairBuddy plugin is installed and active in WordPress
  2. Check installed version of RepairBuddy plugin
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins > RepairBuddy and view the version number displayed, or use WP-CLI: wp plugin get repairbuddy --field=version
    Affected if Version is 3.8120 or lower (any version at or below 3.8120 is affected)
  3. Verify wc_update_user_data AJAX action exists in the plugin
    Inspect the plugin files in wp-content/plugins/repairbuddy/ and search for 'wc_update_user_data' or check if the AJAX action is registered using: grep -r 'wc_update_user_data' wp-content/plugins/repairbuddy/
    Affected if The wc_update_user_data AJAX action handler is present in the plugin code
  4. Confirm the AJAX action is accessible to subscriber-level users
    Check the plugin code for add_action('wp_ajax_wc_update_user_data', ...) calls. Verify if there is also a nopriv version (add_action('wp_ajax_nopriv_wc_update_user_data', ...)) which would allow unauthenticated access, or review role capability requirements in the AJAX callback
    Affected if The AJAX action is accessible to users with subscriber role or higher without proper authorization checks on the target user ID

If RepairBuddy plugin is active with version 3.8120 or lower and the wc_update_user_data AJAX action is present and accessible to authenticated users, the environment is vulnerable to email address manipulation and potential account takeover.

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

Upgrade the RepairBuddy plugin to a version beyond 3.8120 that implements proper authorization checks validating the requesting user's capability to modify target user data, or temporarily disable the wc_update_user_data AJAX action until a patch is available.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

RepairBuddy version 3.8121 or later (check plugins.trac.wordpress.org for the exact latest stable release)

  1. Check the current version of the RepairBuddy plugin installed on your WordPress site
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in the WordPress admin dashboard
  3. Locate the RepairBuddy plugin and note the current version number
  4. Check plugins.trac.wordpress.org for the latest version of the RepairBuddy plugin
  5. Update the plugin to the latest available version that includes the security fix
  6. Verify the update was successful and test that the wc_update_user_data AJAX action now properly validates user identity
  7. Ensure that subscribers cannot modify other users' email addresses after the update

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-12259 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2024-12259 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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