CVE-2024-3243 in Customer Reviews for WooCommerce Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/16/2024
The Customer Reviews for WooCommerce plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized email sending due to a missing capability check on the send_test_email() function in all versions up to, and including, 5.46.0. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to send arbitrary test emails.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/05/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-3243 affects the Customer Reviews for WooCommerce plugin, a widely used WordPress extension that enables website administrators to collect and display customer feedback on their e-commerce platforms. This particular flaw resides within the send_test_email() function which lacks proper capability verification, creating a critical security gap that undermines the plugin's intended access controls. The vulnerability specifically impacts all versions of the plugin up to and including version 5.46.0, making it a persistent issue across a substantial portion of the user base that has not yet received the necessary security patch.
The technical flaw stems from the absence of a capability check within the send_test_email() function, which should normally verify that the requesting user possesses sufficient privileges to perform email sending operations. In this case, the function operates without validating whether the authenticated user has the appropriate permissions, allowing attackers with subscriber-level access or higher to exploit this functionality. This missing validation creates an authorization bypass scenario where malicious users can leverage the plugin's legitimate email-sending mechanism to send unsolicited messages to arbitrary email addresses. The vulnerability manifests as an insufficient authorization condition that directly violates fundamental security principles of least privilege and access control enforcement.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability presents significant risks to WordPress site owners and their customers. Attackers with subscriber-level access can utilize the plugin to send spam emails to multiple recipients, potentially leading to reputation damage for the affected website and its domain. The unauthorized email sending capability could be exploited for phishing campaigns, spam distribution, or to overwhelm target email systems with excessive messages. Additionally, this vulnerability may serve as an entry point for further attacks, as it enables attackers to establish email communication channels that could be used for social engineering or to deliver malicious payloads to unsuspecting recipients. The impact extends beyond simple email abuse, as it can contribute to email deliverability issues and may trigger spam filters that affect legitimate email communications from the compromised site.
The security implications of CVE-2024-3243 align with CWE-285, which addresses insufficient authorization issues in software systems. This vulnerability also maps to ATT&CK technique T1192, which covers the use of compromised accounts for spamming activities, and T1078, which covers legitimate credentials for unauthorized access. Organizations should immediately update to the patched version of the Customer Reviews for WooCommerce plugin to remediate this vulnerability. System administrators should also implement monitoring for unusual email sending activities and review user access levels to ensure that only authorized personnel have the ability to send test emails through the plugin. Network-level controls such as email filtering and rate limiting can provide additional defense in depth measures. The vulnerability underscores the critical importance of proper capability checks and access control validation in web applications, particularly in plugins that handle user-generated content and email functionality.