CVE-2024-12544
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 · uneditedThe SurveyJS: Drag & Drop WordPress Form Builder to create, style and embed multiple forms of any complexity plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary file deletion due to a missing capability check on the callback function of the SurveyJS_DeleteFile class in all versions up to, and including, 1.12.17. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to delete arbitrary files on the server, which can easily lead to remote code execution when the right file is deleted (such as wp-config.php). This function is still vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery as of 1.12.20.
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 confidenceThe SurveyJS WordPress plugin has a missing capability check in the SurveyJS_DeleteFile class callback function, allowing any authenticated user with Subscriber-level access to delete arbitrary files on the server. Combined with the persistent CSRF vulnerability, this can lead to RCE by deleting critical files like wp-config.php.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify if SurveyJS plugin is installedNavigate to Plugins section in WordPress admin, or check /wp-content/plugins/ directory for surveyjs-wp folder. Note the installed version number.Affected if SurveyJS plugin is installed and version is older than the patched version
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Check for subscriber-level user accountsGo to Users > All Users in WordPress admin. Look for any users with the Subscriber role. Alternatively, query wp_users and wp_usermeta tables for user_role_capabilities containing 'subscriber'.Affected if At least one user account with Subscriber role exists in the WordPress installation
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Verify file deletion capability exposureAttempt to access the SurveyJS_DeleteFile callback directly via admin-ajax.php?action=surveyjs_delete_file or similar endpoint. Check if the request processes without requiring administrator-level capability (manage_options).Affected if The delete file endpoint responds without proper capability verification and accepts file path parameters
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Inspect wp-config.php file permissionsCheck file permissions on /wp-config.php via FTP or hosting file manager. Verify if the file is writable by the web server user (typically 644 with owner write, or worse).Affected if wp-config.php has writable permissions (less than 600 or world-writable) allowing arbitrary file deletion to cause RCE
User is affected if SurveyJS plugin is installed with a vulnerable version AND any subscriber-level user account exists, since the combination allows arbitrary file deletion leading to potential RCE.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedUpdate the plugin to the latest version and ensure proper capability checks and CSRF nonce verification are implemented for all file operation functions.
Latest version available on WordPress plugin repository (check for version beyond 1.12.20)
- 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard with administrator privileges
- 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- 3. Locate the SurveyJS: Drag & Drop WordPress Form Builder plugin
- 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
- 5. Alternatively, manually download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/surveyjs/ and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
- 6. After updating, verify the plugin is functioning correctly by testing form creation
- 7. Consider reviewing user roles and capabilities to ensure only trusted users have Subscriber-level access or higher
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-12544 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-12544 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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