dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2024-2848

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-29
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Responsive theme for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the save_footer_text_callback function in all versions up to, and including, 5.0.2. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary HTML content into the site's footer.

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 Responsive WordPress theme lacks a capability check in the save_footer_text_callback function, allowing unauthenticated attackers to modify footer text via the theme settings. This enables arbitrary HTML injection into the site's footer, potentially leading to stored XSS or defacement.

MitigationUpdate the Responsive theme to version 5.0.3 or later, which adds proper authorization checks to the save_footer_text_callback function.

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
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/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. Confirm Responsive theme is installed and active
    Navigate to Appearance > Themes in WordPress admin, or inspect the site metadata, or check wp-content/themes/ directory for the responsive folder, and verify which theme is currently active
    Affected if The Responsive theme is installed and active on the WordPress site
  2. Check installed theme version
    Open wp-content/themes/responsive/style.css and look for the 'Version:' field in the theme header comment block at the top of the file, then compare it to version 5.0.3
    Affected if The version is below 5.0.3 (e.g., 5.0.2, 5.0.1, 5.0.0, or earlier versions)
  3. Inspect the save_footer_text_callback function
    Open wp-content/themes/responsive/functions.php and search for the function 'save_footer_text_callback' to examine whether it includes a capability check (such as current_user_can)
    Affected if The function exists but lacks a capability check like 'current_user_can' before processing the footer text setting
  4. Verify theme settings endpoint accessibility
    Test whether the theme settings endpoint accepts unauthenticated POST requests to modify footer text by inspecting the theme customizer or theme options AJAX handlers, or by reviewing the function's registered AJAX hooks in functions.php
    Affected if The save_footer_text_callback is hooked to an unauthenticated action (like 'wp_ajax_nopriv_' or directly to init/customizer without auth verification)
  5. Check for unexpected footer text modifications
    Inspect the WordPress database options table for the footer_text option (typically in wp_options table, look for option_name containing 'footer_text' or 'responsive' and footer-related settings), or view the site's frontend footer for injected content
    Affected if The footer text in the database contains unexpected, malicious, or unauthorized HTML/JavaScript content that was not added by legitimate administrators

A site is affected if it runs the Responsive theme version 5.0.2 or lower with the vulnerable save_footer_text_callback function lacking authorization, allowing unauthenticated modification of footer text.

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 Responsive theme to version 5.0.3 or later, which adds proper authorization checks to the save_footer_text_callback function.

Recommended fix High confidence

Responsive theme version 5.0.3 or later

  1. Navigate to Dashboard > Appearance > Themes in WordPress admin
  2. Locate the Responsive theme
  3. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the latest version
  4. Verify the update completed successfully by checking the theme version

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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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-2024-2848 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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