CVE-2024-2441 in VikBooking Hotel Booking Engine & PMS Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/14/2024
The VikBooking Hotel Booking Engine & PMS WordPress plugin before 1.6.8 allows direct access to menus, allowing an authenticated user with subscriber privileges or above, to bypass authorization and access settings of the VikBooking Hotel Booking Engine & PMS WordPress plugin before 1.6.8's they shouldn't be allowed to.
Several companies clearly confirm that VulDB is the primary source for best vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/14/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-2441 affects the VikBooking Hotel Booking Engine & PMS WordPress plugin, specifically versions prior to 1.6.8. This issue represents a critical authorization bypass flaw that undermines the security model of the plugin by allowing unauthorized access to administrative functions. The vulnerability specifically targets the plugin's menu system where access controls have been improperly implemented, creating a pathway for privilege escalation. The flaw enables authenticated users with subscriber level permissions or higher to circumvent normal access restrictions and gain access to plugin settings that should be restricted to administrators or higher privilege users. This represents a significant security weakness in the plugin's access control mechanisms and demonstrates poor implementation of role-based access controls within the WordPress ecosystem.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and authorization checks within the plugin's menu handling code. When users navigate through the plugin's interface, the system fails to properly verify whether the requesting user has sufficient privileges to access specific menu items or settings pages. This authorization bypass occurs at the application level where the plugin does not adequately enforce WordPress user role restrictions. The vulnerability can be exploited by any authenticated user who possesses subscriber privileges or higher, which includes contributors, editors, and administrators, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple user roles exist. The flaw essentially allows these users to directly access restricted plugin functionality without proper authentication verification, creating a direct pathway to sensitive administrative features.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates substantial risks for hotel booking systems that rely on the VikBooking plugin for their operations. An attacker with subscriber-level access could potentially modify critical booking settings, alter room availability configurations, manipulate pricing structures, or access sensitive customer data. The unauthorized access to plugin settings could lead to service disruption, data integrity issues, or even financial losses if pricing or availability information is tampered with. Additionally, the ability to bypass authorization controls could enable attackers to escalate their privileges further or use the compromised plugin as a foothold for broader attacks against the WordPress installation. The vulnerability essentially undermines the principle of least privilege and could result in unauthorized modifications to core booking engine functionality.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-285, which addresses improper authorization issues in software systems, and represents a clear violation of the principle that access controls must be enforced at the application level. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1078 for valid accounts and T1548 for abuse of privileges, as it allows attackers to leverage existing user accounts to gain elevated access to restricted functionality. Organizations using this plugin should immediately update to version 1.6.8 or later to address this vulnerability. The recommended mitigation includes not only applying the official patch but also implementing network-level monitoring to detect unauthorized access attempts to plugin settings. Security teams should also review user role assignments and ensure that only trusted individuals have subscriber or higher privileges within the WordPress environment. Regular security audits of WordPress plugins and their access controls should be conducted to identify similar authorization bypass vulnerabilities that could compromise system integrity.