CVE-2021-24993 in Ultimate Product Catalog Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 02/07/2022
The Ultimate Product Catalog WordPress plugin before 5.0.26 does not have authorisation and CSRF checks in some AJAX actions, which could allow any authenticated users, such as subscriber to call them and add arbitrary products, or change the plugin's settings for example
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/11/2022
The CVE-2021-24993 vulnerability affects the Ultimate Product Catalog WordPress plugin version 5.0.26 and earlier, representing a critical authorization and cross-site request forgery weakness that undermines the security posture of WordPress installations. This flaw exists within the plugin's AJAX handling mechanisms where proper access controls and CSRF protection measures are absent, creating a pathway for unauthorized modifications to product catalog data and plugin configurations. The vulnerability specifically targets authenticated users including low-privilege subscribers who should not possess the ability to modify core plugin functionality or add products to the catalog. This represents a classic privilege escalation issue where the security model fails to enforce proper access controls for administrative operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to validate user permissions before processing AJAX requests that modify product data or plugin settings. When authenticated users submit AJAX requests to specific endpoints, the system does not verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary administrative privileges to perform these operations. This absence of authorization checks means that any logged-in user regardless of their role can exploit these endpoints to manipulate product catalog information, potentially leading to data corruption, unauthorized product additions, or configuration changes that could compromise the entire catalog system. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it operates at the application layer where user input is processed without proper validation of user credentials or privilege levels.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates significant risk for WordPress administrators who rely on the Ultimate Product Catalog plugin for their e-commerce or product management operations. Attackers with access to any authenticated user account can leverage this weakness to inject malicious products into the catalog, potentially including spam products, phishing links, or content that could harm the website's reputation and search engine rankings. The ability to modify plugin settings through these unauthorized AJAX calls could lead to more severe consequences including disabling security features, altering pricing configurations, or redirecting product information to malicious destinations. This vulnerability directly violates the principle of least privilege and undermines the trust model that WordPress relies upon for user role management and content control.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-863, which addresses "Incorrect Authorization" in software applications, specifically targeting the failure to properly enforce access controls for privileged operations. Additionally, this issue demonstrates characteristics of CWE-352, "Cross-Site Request Forgery," as the lack of CSRF tokens in the affected AJAX endpoints makes it possible for attackers to craft malicious requests that could be executed by authenticated users. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1078 "Valid Accounts" and T1546 "Event Triggering" as it exploits legitimate user credentials to perform unauthorized actions within the application. Organizations using the Ultimate Product Catalog plugin without updating to version 5.0.26 or later face potential exploitation through automated scanning tools that can identify these unprotected endpoints and execute malicious requests against them.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2021-24993 require immediate action from WordPress administrators to update the Ultimate Product Catalog plugin to version 5.0.26 or higher where the authorization and CSRF protections have been implemented. System administrators should also conduct comprehensive security audits to identify any other plugins or themes that may exhibit similar authorization flaws and implement additional monitoring for unauthorized modifications to product catalog data. Organizations should enforce strict access controls and regularly review user roles and permissions within their WordPress installations to minimize the potential impact of such vulnerabilities. Network-level protections including web application firewalls and intrusion detection systems can provide additional layers of defense against exploitation attempts targeting these specific AJAX endpoints.