CVE-2024-10802
📋 TL;DR
The Hash Elements WordPress plugin has an authorization bypass vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to retrieve draft post titles. This affects all WordPress sites using Hash Elements version 1.4.7 or earlier. The vulnerability exposes sensitive content that should only be accessible to authenticated users.
💻 Affected Systems
- Hash Elements WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
Hash Elements by Hashthemes
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could map all draft content on a WordPress site, potentially exposing sensitive information, proprietary content, or unpublished material before official release.
Likely Case
Information disclosure of draft post titles, which could reveal upcoming content, internal planning, or sensitive topics being prepared.
If Mitigated
Limited exposure with proper access controls and monitoring, though the vulnerability still exists.
🎯 Exploit Status
The vulnerability is simple to exploit as it requires no authentication and involves calling a specific function endpoint.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.4.8
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find Hash Elements and click 'Update Now'. 4. Alternatively, download version 1.4.8+ from WordPress plugin repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Hash Elements Plugin
allTemporarily deactivate the vulnerable plugin until patched.
wp plugin deactivate hash-elements
Restrict Access via WAF
allBlock requests to the vulnerable function endpoint using web application firewall rules.
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network access controls to limit who can access the WordPress site
- Monitor web server logs for unusual requests to hash_elements_get_posts_title_by_id function
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Installed Plugins for Hash Elements version. If version is 1.4.7 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name=hash-elements --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify Hash Elements plugin shows version 1.4.8 or higher in WordPress admin.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing 'hash_elements_get_posts_title_by_id' in URL or parameters
- Unusual GET requests to admin-ajax.php with action parameter related to hash elements
Network Indicators:
- Unusual spikes in requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php from unauthenticated sources
SIEM Query:
source="web_server_logs" AND (uri="*hash_elements_get_posts_title_by_id*" OR post_data="*hash_elements_get_posts_title_by_id*")