CVE-2024-37232
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Hercules Core WordPress plugin that allows authenticated users with subscriber-level permissions to modify arbitrary plugin settings. The vulnerability affects all versions up to 6.5, potentially enabling privilege escalation and unauthorized configuration changes.
💻 Affected Systems
- Hercules Core 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 could gain administrative privileges, modify critical site settings, inject malicious code, or completely compromise the WordPress installation.
Likely Case
Subscriber-level users could modify plugin settings to disrupt functionality, change site behavior, or enable other attack vectors.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls and network segmentation, impact would be limited to the affected WordPress instance only.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires subscriber-level credentials but is technically simple once authenticated.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 6.6 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find Hercules Core and click 'Update Now'. 4. Verify version is 6.6 or higher.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Hercules Core Plugin
allTemporarily deactivate the vulnerable plugin until patching is possible.
wp plugin deactivate hercules-core
Restrict Subscriber Access
allRemove or disable all subscriber-level user accounts.
wp user list --role=subscriber --field=ID | xargs wp user delete
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict network segmentation to isolate WordPress installation
- Enable detailed logging and monitoring for unauthorized settings changes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Hercules Core version 6.5 or lower.Check Version:
wp plugin get hercules-core --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify Hercules Core plugin version is 6.6 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized POST requests to Hercules Core admin endpoints
- Settings changes from subscriber-level users
- Unexpected plugin configuration modifications
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with Hercules Core actions from non-admin users
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("hercules-core" OR "hercules_core") AND ("update_option" OR "save_settings") AND user_role="subscriber"