dbcve.org
Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2024-3897

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-02
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 Popup Box – Best WordPress Popup Plugin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of data due to a missing capability check on the ays_pb_create_author AJAX action in all versions up to, and including, 4.3.6. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to enumerate all emails registered on the website.

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 Popup Box WordPress plugin has a Broken Access Control vulnerability where the ays_pb_create_author AJAX action lacks proper capability checks. This allows unauthenticated attackers to invoke this function and enumerate all email addresses registered on the WordPress site, which is sensitive user data exposure.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 4.3.7 or later which includes proper capability validation. Until then, consider disabling the plugin or adding a web application firewall rule to block unauthorized access to the vulnerable AJAX 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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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 Popup Box plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Popup Box' or check the plugin files in wp-content/plugins/ for a directory named 'popup-box' or similar
    Affected if The Popup Box plugin is present on the WordPress site
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    In Plugins > Installed Plugins, find the Popup Box plugin and read the version number displayed beneath the plugin name. Alternatively, check the main plugin PHP file for the Version header comment
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 4.3.7
  3. Verify AJAX endpoint is publicly accessible
    Send a POST request to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=ays_pb_create_author (no authentication required) using curl or a similar tool. Example: curl -X POST https://your-site.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php -d 'action=ays_pb_create_author'
    Affected if The AJAX action responds without requiring authentication (returns 200 OK rather than 401/403)
  4. Check if email enumeration returns data
    Analyze the response from the AJAX endpoint in step 3. If vulnerable, the response will contain email addresses or user data from the WordPress site
    Affected if The response contains email addresses or user registration data accessible without authentication

A user is affected if the Popup Box plugin is installed with a version lower than 4.3.7 AND the ays_pb_create_author AJAX endpoint responds to unauthenticated requests, exposing user email addresses.

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 plugin to version 4.3.7 or later which includes proper capability validation. Until then, consider disabling the plugin or adding a web application firewall rule to block unauthorized access to the vulnerable AJAX endpoint.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

4.3.7 or later

  1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate 'Popup Box – Best WordPress Popup Plugin'
  4. Check if current version is 4.3.6 or below
  5. If vulnerable, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the latest 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
  • 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-2024-3897 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