dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2024-12559

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-01-07
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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 ClickDesigns plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the 'clickdesigns_add_api' and the 'clickdesigns_remove_api' functions in all versions up to, and including, 1.8.0. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to modify or remove the plugin's API key.

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 ClickDesigns WordPress plugin has a broken access control vulnerability where the AJAX endpoints 'clickdesigns_add_api' and 'clickdesigns_remove_api' lack capability checks and proper nonce verification. This allows any unauthenticated user to call these functions and modify or delete the plugin's API key, potentially disrupting plugin functionality or enabling further attacks.

MitigationUpdate to version 1.8.1 or later which adds proper capability checks. As a temporary measure, consider disabling the plugin or deploying a WAF rule to block these specific AJAX actions until the update can be applied.

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
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

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 ClickDesigns plugin version
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins > click on ClickDesigns plugin, or inspect the plugin main file header for 'Version:' field. Compare the installed version to 1.8.1
    Affected if Installed version is lower than 1.8.1
  2. Test unauthenticated access to clickdesigns_add_api endpoint
    Send a POST request to your site's /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=clickdesigns_add_api and no authentication cookies or nonce token. Use a tool like curl: curl -X POST https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php -d 'action=clickdesigns_add_api' -d 'api_key=test'
    Affected if The server returns a successful response (HTTP 200) instead of an error requiring authentication or capability verification
  3. Test unauthenticated access to clickdesigns_remove_api endpoint
    Send a POST request to your site's /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=clickdesigns_remove_api and no authentication cookies or nonce token. Use a tool like curl: curl -X POST https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php -d 'action=clickdesigns_remove_api'
    Affected if The server returns a successful response (HTTP 200) instead of an error requiring authentication or capability verification
  4. Inspect plugin source code for missing capability checks
    Locate the PHP file handling the AJAX actions (typically in includes/ or directly in the main plugin file). Search for add_action calls registering 'wp_ajax_clickdesigns_add_api' and 'wp_ajax_clickdesigns_remove_api'. Check if they use 'nopriv' prefix (which allows unauthenticated access) and verify the handler functions include current_user_can() or nonce verification checks
    Affected if The AJAX actions are registered with nopriv hooks (wp_ajax_nopriv_*) and the handler functions lack current_user_can() capability checks and wp_verifyNonce() or check_ajax_referer() calls

Your environment is affected if the ClickDesigns plugin version is below 1.8.1 AND the AJAX endpoints respond successfully to unauthenticated requests, indicating missing capability and nonce validation.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update to version 1.8.1 or later which adds proper capability checks. As a temporary measure, consider disabling the plugin or deploying a WAF rule to block these specific AJAX actions until the update can be applied.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2024-12559 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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