CVE-2024-35720 in Album Gallery Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 06/10/2024
Missing Authorization vulnerability in A WP Life Album Gallery – WordPress Gallery.This issue affects Album Gallery – WordPress Gallery: from n/a through 1.5.7.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/26/2024
The CVE-2024-35720 vulnerability represents a critical missing authorization flaw within the WP Life Album Gallery WordPress plugin, specifically impacting versions ranging from an unspecified starting point through version 1.5.7. This vulnerability falls under the category of insufficient authorization checks, which is classified as CWE-285 in the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. The flaw allows unauthorized users to bypass intended access controls and potentially gain administrative privileges or access to restricted functionality within the plugin's backend operations.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation of user permissions before executing sensitive operations within the album gallery management system. When users attempt to perform administrative actions such as modifying gallery settings, uploading media files, or managing user access rights, the plugin fails to properly verify whether the requesting user possesses the necessary authorization levels. This missing authorization check creates a pathway for malicious actors to exploit the system through various attack vectors including privilege escalation and unauthorized data manipulation.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to WordPress site administrators and end users who rely on the album gallery plugin for media management and presentation. An attacker exploiting this vulnerability could potentially modify or delete gallery content, alter plugin configurations, or gain access to sensitive user data stored within the gallery system. The impact extends beyond simple data corruption as it may enable complete compromise of the affected WordPress installation through lateral movement and privilege escalation techniques. This vulnerability directly aligns with ATT&CK technique T1078 which covers valid accounts and T1496 which addresses resource hijacking through unauthorized access.
Organizations using affected versions of the WP Life Album Gallery plugin should immediately implement mitigation strategies including updating to the latest available version that addresses this authorization flaw. Security administrators should also conduct thorough audits of user permissions within the affected plugin to identify any unauthorized access that may have occurred. Additionally, implementing network-level monitoring and intrusion detection systems can help identify potential exploitation attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper authorization mechanisms in web applications and serves as a reminder of the necessity for comprehensive security testing including authorization validation checks. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and access control policies to provide additional layers of protection against similar authorization bypass vulnerabilities.