dbcve.org
Incorrect Privilege AssignmentWeakness · CWE-266

CVE-2024-4870

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-06-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
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 Frontend Registration – Contact Form 7 plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 5.1 due to insufficient restriction on the '_cf7frr_' post meta. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with editor-level access and above, to modify the default user role in the registration form settings.

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 Frontend Registration – Contact Form 7 WordPress plugin (versions up to 5.1) stores registration form settings in the '_cf7frr_' post meta without proper access controls. Authenticated users with editor-level permissions can modify this meta to change the default user role assigned to new registrations, enabling privilege escalation by assigning administrator or other high-privilege roles to newly registered users.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 5.2 or later which restricts modification of the '_cf7frr_' meta. Alternatively, restrict editor-level user access to form settings until the patch is 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
High
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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. Identify plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate 'Frontend Registration - Contact Form 7' to see the installed version number, or check the plugin header in /wp-content/plugins/contact-form-7-frontend-registration/contact-form-7-frontend-registration.php
    Affected if The installed version is 5.1 or earlier
  2. Check for '_cf7frr_' meta on registration forms
    Query the WordPress database: SELECT post_id, meta_key, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key = '_cf7frr_' LIMIT 10; This retrieves stored registration form settings
    Affected if Records exist with '_cf7frr_' meta containing any role configuration (non-empty meta_value)
  3. Inspect default role assignments
    Decode the '_cf7frr_' meta_value (often serialized or JSON). Look for any 'role' or 'user_role' field. Common keys: default_role, registration_role, or role_assignment
    Affected if Any form has a default role set to 'administrator', 'editor', 'author', or any role with elevated privileges
  4. Verify editor-level user access
    In WordPress admin under Users > All Users, check which users have the 'Editor' role or check wp_usermeta for capability 'edit_others_posts'
    Affected if Any user with editor-level permissions exists on the site who could potentially access form settings

A site is affected if the plugin version is 5.1 or earlier AND '_cf7frr_' meta exists with any role configuration, especially if administrator or other high-privilege roles are assigned as defaults for new user registrations.

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 5.2 or later which restricts modification of the '_cf7frr_' meta. Alternatively, restrict editor-level user access to form settings until the patch is applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Plugin version 5.2 or later (verify in WordPress plugin repository)

  1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate 'Frontend Registration – Contact Form 7'
  4. Check the current version installed
  5. If the installed version is 5.1 or lower, update the plugin to the latest available version

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-4870 — 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-2024-4870 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