CVE-2023-4239 in Real Estate Manager Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 08/09/2023
The Real Estate Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 7.2 due to insufficient restriction on the 'rem_save_profile_front' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with minimal permissions such as a subscriber, to modify their user role by supplying the 'wp_capabilities' parameter during a profile update.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/10/2026
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2023-4239 affects the Real Estate Manager plugin for WordPress, specifically targeting versions up to and including 7.2. This represents a critical privilege escalation flaw that undermines the core security model of WordPress installations. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and access control mechanisms within the plugin's frontend profile management system, creating an exploitable pathway for attackers to elevate their privileges without proper authorization.
The technical flaw exists within the 'rem_save_profile_front' function which fails to properly validate or sanitize the 'wp_capabilities' parameter during user profile updates. This parameter typically contains user role and capability information that should be strictly controlled by administrators or users with elevated privileges. When authenticated attackers with minimal permissions such as subscribers submit a specially crafted request containing modified 'wp_capabilities' values, the function processes these inputs without adequate verification, allowing unauthorized role modifications. This flaw directly violates the principle of least privilege and demonstrates poor input sanitization practices that are fundamental to secure application development.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables attackers to escalate their privileges from subscriber level to administrator or other elevated roles within the WordPress installation. Once an attacker successfully modifies their user capabilities, they gain access to sensitive administrative functions including plugin management, theme customization, user account modifications, and potentially full system control. This vulnerability can be exploited remotely through the frontend interface, making it particularly dangerous as it requires no special technical knowledge beyond basic WordPress user permissions. The attack vector is straightforward and can be automated, increasing the potential for widespread exploitation across vulnerable installations.
Organizations should immediately update to the patched version of the Real Estate Manager plugin to remediate this vulnerability. System administrators should also implement additional monitoring for unusual user role modifications and conduct thorough security audits of all installed plugins. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues, and maps to ATT&CK technique T1078.004 for valid accounts and T1548.001 for abuse of privileges. Security teams should consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious parameter modifications, while also reviewing and tightening user role assignments to minimize potential damage from compromised accounts. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar issues in other plugins and themes that may present similar privilege escalation risks.