CVE-2024-4788 – The Boostify Header Footer Builder for Elemento... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-4788?

CVE-2024-4788 has a CVSS score of 4.3 (MEDIUM). The Boostify Header Footer Builder for Elementor WordPress plugin has an authorization vulnerability that allows authenticated users with subscriber-level access or higher to create pages or posts with arbitrary content. This affects all versions up to and including 1.3.3. Attackers can inject malicious content or deface websites.

📋 TL;DR

The Boostify Header Footer Builder for Elementor WordPress plugin has an authorization vulnerability that allows authenticated users with subscriber-level access or higher to create pages or posts with arbitrary content. This affects all versions up to and including 1.3.3. Attackers can inject malicious content or deface websites.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Boostify Header Footer Builder for Elementor

Versions: All versions up to and including 1.3.3

Operating Systems: Any OS running WordPress

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Requires WordPress with the vulnerable plugin installed. Any authenticated user (subscriber role or higher) can exploit this.

📦 What is this software?

Boostify Header Footer Builder For Elementor by Woostify

View all CVEs affecting Boostify Header Footer Builder For Elementor →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Attackers create malicious pages that distribute malware, steal credentials via phishing, or deface the entire website, damaging reputation and causing business disruption.

🟠

Likely Case

Attackers create spam pages, inject SEO spam, or deface specific sections of the website to promote malicious content or disrupt operations.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper access controls and monitoring, impact is limited to content creation that can be quickly detected and reverted without system compromise.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: LOW

Exploitation requires authenticated access but is straightforward via crafted HTTP requests to the vulnerable function.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 1.3.4 or later

Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/boostify-header-footer-builder/trunk/inc/admin/class-admin.php

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Boostify Header Footer Builder for Elementor'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or manually update to version 1.3.4+. 5. Verify the plugin is active and functioning.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Restrict User Roles

all

Temporarily limit user creation capabilities by modifying user roles to prevent subscribers from accessing content creation functions.

Use WordPress role management plugins or custom code to remove 'edit_posts' capability from subscriber role.

Disable Plugin

all

Deactivate the vulnerable plugin until patched, though this may break header/footer functionality.

wp plugin deactivate boostify-header-footer-builder

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Remove or restrict subscriber-level user accounts to minimize attack surface.
Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block requests to the vulnerable create_bhf_post function.

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check WordPress admin panel under Plugins > Installed Plugins for Boostify Header Footer Builder version 1.3.3 or lower.

Check Version:

wp plugin get boostify-header-footer-builder --field=version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm the plugin version is 1.3.4 or higher in the WordPress plugins list.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=create_bhf_post from low-privilege users.
Sudden increase in page/post creation events in WordPress logs.

Network Indicators:

HTTP requests containing 'create_bhf_post' parameter from unauthorized IPs or user roles.

SIEM Query:

source="wordpress.log" AND "create_bhf_post" AND (user_role="subscriber" OR user_role="contributor")

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-4788

CVSS v3 Score: 4.3 (MEDIUM)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N

CWE: CWE-862

Published: June 6, 2024

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

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