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Authorization Bypass (IDOR)Weakness · CWE-639

CVE-2024-9215

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-10-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Co-Authors, Multiple Authors and Guest Authors in an Author Box with PublishPress Authors plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Insecure Direct Object Reference to Privilege Escalation/Account Takeover in all versions up to, and including, 4.7.1 via the action_edited_author() due to missing validation on the 'authors-user_id' user controlled key. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to update arbitrary user accounts email addresses, including administrators, which can then be leveraged to reset that user's account password and gain access.

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 PublishPress Authors plugin for WordPress versions up to 4.7.1 contains an IDOR vulnerability in the action_edited_author() function. The 'authors-user_id' parameter is not validated server-side, allowing any authenticated user with Author-level permissions to modify email addresses of arbitrary user accounts, including administrators. This enables account takeover via password reset functionality.

MitigationUpdate PublishPress Authors plugin to version 4.7.2 or later which adds proper server-side validation on the user ID parameter to prevent unauthorized user modification.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Confirm PublishPress Authors is installed
    Check your WordPress installation's wp-content/plugins directory for the 'publishpress-authors' folder, or query the wp_options table for 'active_plugins' and 'publishpress-authors' in the option_name column
    Affected if The plugin folder exists and is active in WordPress
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin file (usually publishpress-authors.php) and locate the 'Version:' header comment, or query wp_options for the option_name containing 'publishpress-authors' version info
    Affected if The installed version is 4.7.1 or lower (versions through 4.7.1 are affected)
  3. Verify Author-level users exist
    Query the WordPress database: SELECT u.ID, u.user_login, um.meta_value FROM wp_users u JOIN wp_usermeta um ON u.ID = um.user_id WHERE um.meta_key = 'wp_capabilities' AND um.meta_value LIKE '%author%'
    Affected if Any authenticated users with Author role exist in the system
  4. Check for unauthorized user profile modifications
    Review the wp_usermeta table for changes to user_email values, or check WordPress activity logs for user profile update actions around the time the vulnerable plugin version was active
    Affected if Email addresses were changed for users other than the one making the request, especially for administrator accounts
  5. Inspect the vulnerable function access control
    Examine the action_edited_author() function in the plugin source code (authors-free/functions.php or similar) to confirm the 'authors-user_id' parameter lacks server-side validation and is accessible to Author-role users
    Affected if The function accepts the authors-user_id parameter without validating that the requesting user has permission to modify that specific user account

You are affected if the PublishPress Authors plugin version is 4.7.1 or lower AND any Author-level users exist who could potentially exploit the missing user ID validation in action_edited_author().

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 PublishPress Authors plugin to version 4.7.2 or later which adds proper server-side validation on the user ID parameter to prevent unauthorized user modification.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

4.7.2 or later

  1. Log in to WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the PublishPress Authors plugin
  4. Check if the current version is 4.7.1 or below
  5. If vulnerable, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version, or manually download and upload version 4.7.2 or later from the WordPress plugin repository
  6. After updating, verify the version number reflects the patched release

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

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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-2024-9215 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