CVE-2024-13430
📋 TL;DR
The Page Builder: Pagelayer WordPress plugin has an information exposure vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with Contributor-level access or higher to extract data from private posts they shouldn't have access to. This affects all versions up to and including 1.9.8. WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of this plugin are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Page Builder: Pagelayer - Drag and Drop website builder plugin for WordPress
📦 What is this software?
Pagelayer by Pagelayer
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could extract sensitive information from private posts, potentially exposing confidential business data, personal information, or unpublished content.
Likely Case
Authenticated users with Contributor access could read private posts they're not authorized to view, potentially exposing draft content or restricted information.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls and monitoring, impact is limited to unauthorized viewing of some private content by authenticated users.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access with at least Contributor privileges. The vulnerability is in the 'pagelayer_builder_posts_shortcode' function.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.9.9
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3252081/pagelayer
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Page Builder: Pagelayer'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or download version 1.9.9+ from WordPress repository. 5. Activate the updated plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporarily disable plugin
allDeactivate the Pagelayer plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate pagelayer
Restrict user roles
allLimit Contributor and higher role assignments to trusted users only
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove Contributor and higher roles from untrusted users
- Monitor user activity and access to private posts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Installed Plugins → Page Builder: Pagelayer versionCheck Version:
wp plugin get pagelayer --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is 1.9.9 or higher in WordPress admin📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual access patterns to private posts
- Multiple requests to pagelayer_builder_posts_shortcode endpoint
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=pagelayer_builder_posts_shortcode
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND uri_path="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" AND query_string="action=pagelayer_builder_posts_shortcode"