CVE-2024-9927 in WooCommerce Order Proposal Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/23/2024
The WooCommerce Order Proposal plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation via order proposal in all versions up to and including 2.0.5. This is due to the improper implementation of allow_payment_without_login function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Shop Manager-level access and above, to log in to WordPress as an arbitrary user account, including administrators.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/23/2024
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-9927 affects the WooCommerce Order Proposal plugin for WordPress, specifically targeting versions up to and including 2.0.5. This represents a critical privilege escalation flaw that undermines the security model of WordPress e-commerce installations. The vulnerability stems from a fundamental flaw in the plugin's access control implementation, where the allow_payment_without_login function fails to properly validate user permissions and authentication states. The flaw allows authenticated attackers who possess Shop Manager-level privileges or higher to exploit the system and gain administrative access to WordPress installations through arbitrary user account logins.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the improper validation of user sessions and authentication states within the plugin's order proposal functionality. When the allow_payment_without_login function processes requests, it does not adequately verify whether the requesting user has the appropriate authorization level to perform the requested action. This creates an exploitable path where a user with Shop Manager privileges can manipulate the authentication flow to impersonate any user account within the system, including administrators. The vulnerability essentially bypasses the standard WordPress user permission hierarchy by allowing unauthorized privilege elevation through the plugin's payment processing logic.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses a severe threat to WordPress e-commerce environments that utilize the affected WooCommerce Order Proposal plugin. Attackers who successfully exploit this vulnerability can gain full administrative control over WordPress installations, potentially leading to complete system compromise. The implications extend beyond simple privilege escalation, as administrators can modify plugin configurations, access sensitive customer data, manipulate order processing, and potentially install malicious code. This vulnerability essentially transforms a relatively low-privilege Shop Manager account into a full administrative backdoor, making it particularly dangerous for businesses handling sensitive customer information and financial transactions.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-284, which describes improper access control, and represents a classic example of insufficient authorization checks in web applications. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to privilege escalation techniques, specifically T1078.004 for valid accounts and T1548.001 for abuse of privileges. The attack vector requires an authenticated user with Shop Manager level access or higher, making it difficult to exploit from external networks but potentially devastating when exploited by insider threats or compromised accounts. Organizations should immediately update to patched versions of the WooCommerce Order Proposal plugin, implement network segmentation to limit access to administrative interfaces, and monitor for suspicious authentication activities. Additionally, regular security audits of WordPress plugins and maintaining up-to-date security practices are essential to prevent exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in other components of the WordPress ecosystem.