CVE-2024-31294: WP Sort Order Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2024-31294 Overview

CVE-2024-31294 is a missing authorization vulnerability in the Fahad Mahmood WP Sort Order plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 1.3.1. It is categorized under [CWE-862] Missing Authorization, meaning the plugin fails to verify whether an authenticated user is permitted to perform sensitive actions. An authenticated attacker with low privileges can invoke restricted plugin functionality over the network. The issue impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected WordPress site.

Critical Impact
An authenticated low-privileged user can bypass access controls in WP Sort Order versions through 1.3.1, allowing unauthorized modification of plugin-controlled data and site configuration.

Affected Products

WP Sort Order plugin for WordPress (vendor: Fahad Mahmood / androidbubble)
All versions from initial release through 1.3.1
WordPress sites with the plugin active and authenticated users present

Discovery Timeline

2024-06-09 - CVE-2024-31294 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-31294

Vulnerability Analysis

The WP Sort Order plugin exposes actions that change sort order configuration and related plugin state. These actions do not enforce capability checks on the calling user. Because WordPress relies on plugins to implement authorization for their own endpoints, missing current_user_can() checks or nonce validation allow any authenticated session to reach privileged handlers.

An attacker holding a low-privileged account, such as Subscriber, can craft requests to plugin endpoints and modify data reserved for administrators. This changes the trust boundary from administrator-only to any-authenticated-user, which is why the impact spans confidentiality, integrity, and availability.

Root Cause

The root cause is [CWE-862] Missing Authorization. The plugin registers action handlers that accept requests from authenticated users but omit role or capability validation. Without a check such as current_user_can('manage_options') and proper nonce verification, WordPress serves the request to any logged-in user.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires network access to the WordPress site and a valid low-privileged account. The attacker sends an HTTP request to a vulnerable plugin endpoint, such as an AJAX handler registered via wp_ajax_*, and the plugin executes the privileged operation without validating the caller. No user interaction is required beyond the attacker's own session. Technical details are documented in the Patchstack Access Control Vulnerability advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-31294

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected modifications to sort order, taxonomy order, or plugin option rows in the wp_options table.
Requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php referencing WP Sort Order actions from accounts without administrative roles.
New or altered plugin configuration entries with timestamps that do not correspond to administrator activity.

Detection Strategies

Review web server access logs for POST requests to admin-ajax.php correlated with low-privileged session cookies.
Audit plugin option changes using WordPress activity logging tools and compare against known administrator sessions.
Compare installed plugin version against 1.3.1 and flag any host running that release or earlier.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging for option updates, role changes, and plugin configuration events.
Alert on AJAX requests to plugin-specific actions issued by Subscriber, Contributor, or Author accounts.
Ingest WordPress and web server logs into a centralized analytics platform to correlate authenticated activity with configuration changes.

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-31294

Immediate Actions Required

Update WP Sort Order to a version later than 1.3.1 once a fixed release is available from the vendor.
If no fix is available, deactivate and remove the WP Sort Order plugin from production WordPress sites.
Audit user accounts and remove or downgrade unused low-privileged accounts that could be leveraged by an attacker.
Rotate credentials for any account that may have been abused to reach vulnerable endpoints.

Patch Information

At the time of NVD publication, the advisory identifies all versions of WP Sort Order up to and including 1.3.1 as affected. Consult the Patchstack advisory for the current patch status and any vendor-issued update.

Workarounds

Restrict access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php for non-administrative accounts using a web application firewall rule.
Enforce strong authentication and multi-factor authentication on all WordPress user accounts to reduce the pool of usable low-privileged sessions.
Disable open user registration if it is not required, limiting attacker ability to obtain a Subscriber account.

bash

# Example: identify hosts running vulnerable WP Sort Order versions via WP-CLI
wp plugin get wp-sort-order --field=version
# Deactivate the plugin as an interim mitigation
wp plugin deactivate wp-sort-order