CVE-2024-12558
📋 TL;DR
The WP BASE Booking plugin for WordPress has a missing capability check that allows authenticated users with Subscriber-level access or higher to export database contents, potentially exposing sensitive information like hashed administrator passwords. This affects all WordPress sites using the plugin up to version 4.9.2.
💻 Affected Systems
- WP BASE Booking of Appointments, Services and Events WordPress plugin
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers obtain administrator password hashes, crack them, gain full administrative access, and compromise the entire WordPress site and potentially the server.
Likely Case
Attackers export sensitive booking data, customer information, and potentially password hashes, leading to data breach and privacy violations.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls and monitoring, unauthorized export attempts are detected and blocked before data exfiltration.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is technically simple - just calling the vulnerable export_db function without proper authorization checks.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 5.0.0
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3210164/wp-base-booking-of-appointments-services-and-events/tags/5.0.0/includes/freeons/export-import.php
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'WP BASE Booking of Appointments, Services and Events'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or download version 5.0.0+ from WordPress repository. 5. Activate the updated plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable plugin
allTemporarily disable the WP BASE Booking plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate wp-base-booking-of-appointments-services-and-events
Restrict user registration
allDisable new user registration to prevent attackers from obtaining Subscriber accounts
Update WordPress Settings → General → Membership to 'Anyone can register' = unchecked
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block requests to the export_db function from non-admin users
- Monitor and audit user activity logs for unauthorized export attempts and database access patterns
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins for 'WP BASE Booking' version. If version is 4.9.2 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get wp-base-booking-of-appointments-services-and-events --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version shows 5.0.0 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=export_db from non-admin users
- Unusual database export operations in WordPress logs
- Multiple failed authentication attempts followed by successful Subscriber login and export activity
Network Indicators:
- Unusual outbound data transfers from WordPress admin interface
- Patterns of authenticated users accessing export functionality
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("action=export_db" OR "export_db") AND user_role!="administrator"🔗 References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-base-booking-of-appointments-services-and-events/tags/4.9.2/includes/freeons/export-import.php
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3210164/wp-base-booking-of-appointments-services-and-events/tags/5.0.0/includes/freeons/export-import.php?old=3207827&old_path=wp-base-booking-of-appointments-services-and-events%2Ftags%2F4.9.2%2Fincludes%2Ffreeons%2Fexport-import.php
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/09831b2f-8f79-4833-8fc6-f1af56c6abc8?source=cve
