CVE-2024-5149
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 BuddyForms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Email Verification Bypass in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.9 via the use of an insufficiently random activation code. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to bypass the email verification.
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 BuddyForms WordPress plugin versions up to 2.8.9 use an insufficiently random activation code for email verification, allowing unauthenticated attackers to potentially predict or brute-force the code and bypass the verification mechanism.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data<= 2.8.9CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify BuddyForms plugin versionIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate BuddyForms. Check the version number displayed. Alternatively, inspect the plugin header in /wp-content/plugins/buddyforms/buddyforms.php for the 'Version' comment.Affected if The installed version is 2.8.9 or lower.
-
Confirm email verification is enabledNavigate to BuddyForms > Forms > [Select a Form] > Post Form > Submission. Look for the 'Enable Email Verification' or 'Require Email Verification' setting in the form configuration.Affected if Email verification is turned ON for any form in the plugin.
-
Check for pending user activationsIn WordPress admin, go to BuddyForms > Submissions or Users (depending on form type). Look for entries with status indicating 'pending', 'awaiting verification', or 'inactive' that rely on email activation.Affected if There are user registrations or form submissions pending email verification that use the activation code system.
If BuddyForms version is 2.8.9 or lower AND email verification is enabled for any form, the environment is vulnerable to predictable activation code attacks.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate BuddyForms to version 2.9.0 or later, which implements properly randomized activation codes. Prior to production deployment, test email verification functionality in a staging environment.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-5149 — 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-2024-5149 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
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.
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.
- 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