CVE-2024-10020
📋 TL;DR
The Heateor Social Login WordPress plugin has an authentication bypass vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to log in as any existing user by exploiting insufficient token verification. This affects all WordPress sites using plugin versions up to 1.1.35. Attackers can only log in as administrators if social login has been explicitly enabled for admin accounts.
💻 Affected Systems
- Heateor Social Login WordPress plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete site takeover if administrators have social login enabled, leading to data theft, defacement, malware injection, and privilege escalation across the WordPress installation.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to regular user accounts, enabling data theft, content manipulation, and lateral movement within the site.
If Mitigated
Limited to non-administrator account compromise with minimal impact if proper access controls and monitoring are in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires knowing the target user's email address and that they don't have an existing social login account for the service.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.1.36
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3177729/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Heateor Social Login' and click 'Update Now'. 4. Verify version shows 1.1.36 or higher.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Social Login Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patching is possible
wp plugin deactivate heateor-social-login
Restrict Social Login to Trusted Users
allConfigure plugin to only allow social login for specific user roles or disable admin social login
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block suspicious authentication attempts
- Enable detailed logging for all authentication events and monitor for unusual login patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Heateor Social Login → Version. If version is 1.1.35 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get heateor-social-login --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, confirm version shows 1.1.36 or higher in WordPress admin plugins page.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple failed social login attempts followed by successful login from same IP
- User logins from unusual locations via social login
- Administrator logins via social login if previously disabled
Network Indicators:
- Unusual authentication requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with social login parameters
- Spike in requests to social login callback endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("heateor" OR "social-login") AND ("action=heateor_sl_login" OR "heateor_sl_validate")