CVE-2024-56276
📋 TL;DR
This CVE describes a missing authorization vulnerability in WPForms Contact Form plugin that allows attackers to bypass access controls and perform unauthorized actions. It affects all WordPress sites running WPForms Contact Form versions up to 1.9.2.2. The vulnerability enables privilege escalation by exploiting incorrectly configured security levels.
💻 Affected Systems
- WPForms Contact Form by WPForms
- WPForms Lite
📦 What is this software?
Wpforms by Wpforms
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could gain administrative privileges, modify forms, access form submissions containing sensitive data, or inject malicious code into forms.
Likely Case
Unauthorized users accessing form submissions, modifying form configurations, or performing actions reserved for higher-privileged users.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper role-based access controls and security plugins in place.
🎯 Exploit Status
Requires some level of user access but can escalate privileges. No public exploit code identified at this time.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.9.2.3 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find WPForms Contact Form. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download latest version from WordPress.org and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary Plugin Deactivation
allDisable WPForms plugin until patched to prevent exploitation
wp plugin deactivate wpforms-lite
wp plugin deactivate wpforms
Access Restriction via .htaccess
linuxRestrict access to wp-admin area to trusted IPs only
Order deny,allow
Deny from all
Allow from 192.168.1.0/24
Allow from 10.0.0.0/8
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict role-based access controls and limit user permissions
- Deploy web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block unauthorized access attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WPForms plugin version in WordPress admin under Plugins → Installed PluginsCheck Version:
wp plugin get wpforms-lite --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify WPForms version is 1.9.2.3 or higher after update📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unauthorized access attempts to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with wpforms actions
- Users with low privileges performing admin-level WPForms operations
Network Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with wpforms_ parameters from unauthorized users
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("wpforms" AND "admin-ajax.php") AND user_role!="administrator"