CVE-2024-9685
📋 TL;DR
The Notification for Telegram WordPress plugin versions up to 3.3.1 contain an authorization bypass vulnerability that allows authenticated users with subscriber-level access or higher to send test messages via Telegram Bot API to all configured users. This occurs due to missing capability checks in the 'nftb_test_action' function. WordPress sites using vulnerable plugin versions are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Notification for Telegram WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
Notification For Telegram by Andreamarinucci
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could spam all Telegram users configured in the plugin with malicious messages, potentially leading to phishing attacks, reputation damage, or service disruption if Telegram API rate limits are exceeded.
Likely Case
Low-privileged authenticated users send unauthorized test messages to all configured Telegram users, causing confusion and minor disruption.
If Mitigated
With proper user access controls and monitoring, impact is limited to minor annoyance from unauthorized test messages.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is trivial once authenticated. The vulnerability is publicly documented with code references.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.3.2
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3165615/notification-for-telegram
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Notification for Telegram' and click 'Update Now'. 4. Alternatively, download version 3.3.2+ from WordPress plugin repository and replace the plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Remove vulnerable plugin
allTemporarily disable or remove the Notification for Telegram plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate notification-for-telegram
wp plugin delete notification-for-telegram
Restrict user registration
allDisable new user registration to prevent attackers from obtaining subscriber accounts
wp option update users_can_register 0
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user roles to trusted individuals only and monitor user activity
- Implement web application firewall rules to block requests to the vulnerable endpoint
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel → Plugins → Notification for Telegram → Version. If version is 3.3.1 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get notification-for-telegram --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version shows 3.3.2 or higher in WordPress admin plugins page.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=nftb_test_action
- Multiple test message attempts from non-admin users
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections to api.telegram.org from WordPress server with test message patterns
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND uri="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" AND post_data="action=nftb_test_action" AND user_role!="administrator"