Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A vulnerable WP User Frontend plugin version could let an unauthenticated attacker create a WordPress account with elevated privileges, including administrator, if site secret keys are known or default. That can become full site compromise. The source bundle does not show confirmed active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat this as urgent for any WordPress site using the affected plugin. Successful abuse could grant administrator access and lead to content tampering, malware placement, data access, or operational disruption.
Technical view
WP User Frontend before 3.5.29 trusted a user-controlled registration field, `urhidden`, containing an encrypted target role. If AUTH_KEY and AUTH_SALT are exposed or default, the role value can be abused to create accounts with arbitrary roles. CVSS is 9.8 critical, mapped to CWE-287.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites running WP User Frontend before 3.5.29. Risk is higher where public registration is enabled and WordPress AUTH_KEY or AUTH_SALT may be exposed, reused, weak, or default.
Exploitation context
CISA KEV is false in the supplied data, and no cited source confirms active exploitation. WPScan is tagged as an exploit reference, so defenders should treat the issue as technically actionable without assuming in-the-wild exploitation.
Researcher notes
The key precondition is access to AUTH_KEY and AUTH_SALT or default keys. Evidence is strongest for affected-version logic and impact, but incomplete for real-world exploitation prevalence, vendor-specific hardening beyond upgrade, and affected deployment counts.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade WP User Frontend to version 3.5.29 or later.
- Rotate WordPress authentication keys and salts if exposure is suspected.
- Disable or restrict public registration until remediation is verified.
- Audit administrator and privileged WordPress accounts for unexpected additions.
- Review vendor and WPScan guidance for any plugin-specific instructions.
Validation and detection
- Inventory WordPress sites for WP User Frontend installations.
- Confirm installed plugin versions are 3.5.29 or later.
- Check whether public registration is enabled on affected sites.
- Review recent privileged account creation and role changes.
- Assess whether WordPress keys or salts were ever exposed.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-287: Credential and account abuse lookup
Authentication and credential weaknesses can make valid-account abuse and credential telemetry useful review starting points. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-24649 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.8CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/9486744e-ab24-44e4-b06e-9e0b4be132e2CVE reference · exploit, vdb-entry
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Authentication
Improper Authentication represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.