CVE-2024-39623: Cridio Listingpro Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2024-39623 Overview

CVE-2024-39623 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability [CWE-352] in the CridioStudio ListingPro WordPress theme. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 2.9.4. Attackers can leverage the issue to achieve authentication bypass and full account takeover when an authenticated user visits a malicious page.

The vulnerability is network-exploitable and requires user interaction, but no privileges on the target site. Successful exploitation impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected WordPress installation.

Critical Impact
A successful CSRF attack against an authenticated administrator results in account takeover of the ListingPro WordPress site.

Affected Products

CridioStudio ListingPro WordPress theme versions up to and including 2.9.4
WordPress sites running the vulnerable ListingPro theme
Any administrator or privileged user accounts on affected sites

Discovery Timeline

2025-01-02 - CVE-2024-39623 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-39623

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in account-related actions exposed by the ListingPro theme. These actions do not validate a CSRF token or properly verify the origin of the request. An attacker can craft a malicious web page that, when visited by an authenticated user, submits a forged request to the target WordPress site.

Because the request runs in the victim's authenticated session, the WordPress backend executes it as if the victim issued it. According to the Patchstack advisory, the issue chains into account takeover, meaning attacker-controlled requests can alter account credentials or session state. The CWE-352 classification confirms the missing anti-CSRF protections as the underlying weakness.

Root Cause

The root cause is the absence of WordPress nonce validation (wp_verify_nonce) and origin checks on sensitive endpoints in the ListingPro theme. Sensitive state-changing operations should require a per-request token bound to the user session. Without that token, the server cannot distinguish a legitimate browser action from a forged cross-origin request.

Attack Vector

The attack is delivered over the network and requires user interaction. An attacker hosts a malicious page containing an auto-submitting form or JavaScript that targets the vulnerable ListingPro endpoint. When an authenticated WordPress user visits the page, the browser includes session cookies, and the forged request executes server-side actions tied to that user.

The vulnerability mechanism is described in the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report. No public proof-of-concept code is verified at this time.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-39623

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected changes to administrator email addresses or passwords in the WordPress wp_users table
Authentication events from unfamiliar IP addresses immediately after legitimate user activity
HTTP Referer headers pointing to external domains on requests targeting ListingPro account endpoints
New or modified administrator accounts that cannot be tied to known administrative actions

Detection Strategies

Audit WordPress access logs for POST requests to ListingPro endpoints lacking valid _wpnonce parameters
Correlate user session origins with the Referer and Origin headers on state-changing requests
Monitor WordPress audit plugins for unauthorized user role or email changes

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule set that flags cross-origin POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and theme endpoints
Forward WordPress and web server logs to a central data lake for correlation across sessions and source IPs
Alert on account profile changes occurring within seconds of an external referrer visit

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-39623

Immediate Actions Required

Update the ListingPro theme to a version later than 2.9.4 as soon as the vendor publishes a fix
Force a password reset for all administrator and editor accounts on affected sites
Invalidate active WordPress sessions using wp_destroy_all_sessions or equivalent tooling
Review user accounts and remove any unauthorized administrators

Patch Information

CridioStudio addresses the issue in releases published after ListingPro 2.9.4. Administrators should consult the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report and the vendor changelog to confirm the fixed version, then apply the update through the WordPress dashboard or by replacing theme files.

Workarounds

Deploy a WordPress security plugin or WAF rule that enforces Origin and Referer validation on theme endpoints
Restrict administrative access to known IP addresses using web server ACLs until the patched version is installed
Train privileged users to log out of WordPress sessions before browsing untrusted sites

bash

# Example WAF rule concept: block cross-origin POSTs to ListingPro endpoints
# Adjust to your WAF syntax (ModSecurity example shown)
SecRule REQUEST_METHOD "@streq POST" \
  "chain,phase:2,deny,status:403,id:1003962,msg:'CVE-2024-39623 CSRF block'"
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@rx /wp-admin/admin-ajax\\.php|listingpro" \
  "chain"
SecRule REQUEST_HEADERS:Origin "!@rx ^https?://(www\\.)?yourdomain\\.com$"