CVE-2024-44031 Overview
CVE-2024-44031 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability [CWE-862] in the beardev JoomSport plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects the joomsport-sports-league-results-management plugin in all versions up to and including 5.6.3. Authenticated attackers with low privileges can invoke plugin functions without proper capability checks. The issue enables broken access control that impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the WordPress site. Patchstack published the advisory and tracks this vulnerability under the JoomSport plugin database entry.
Critical Impact
Low-privileged authenticated users can bypass authorization checks in JoomSport to modify plugin data and escalate their impact on the WordPress site.
Affected Products
- beardev JoomSport (joomsport-sports-league-results-management) WordPress plugin
- All versions from n/a through 5.6.3
- WordPress sites running JoomSport for sports league and results management
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-11-01 - CVE-2024-44031 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-44031
Vulnerability Analysis
The JoomSport plugin exposes plugin actions that do not enforce sufficient capability or role checks before executing sensitive operations. An attacker with a low-privileged account, such as a subscriber, can call these endpoints and perform actions reserved for higher-privileged roles. The result is broken access control across plugin-managed data including leagues, seasons, teams, players, and results.
Successful exploitation lets an attacker alter or delete plugin content, tamper with sports data displayed to site visitors, and potentially chain the flaw with other plugin functions to further impact the site. The attack requires network access to the WordPress admin-ajax or REST endpoints exposed by the plugin, and a valid low-privileged session.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing authorization [CWE-862]. The plugin's action handlers do not verify that the calling user holds the required WordPress capability, such as manage_options or a plugin-specific capability, before executing state-changing logic. Nonce checks alone, if present, do not substitute for capability enforcement because any authenticated user can obtain valid nonces from pages they legitimately access.
Attack Vector
Exploitation is network-based and requires low privileges without user interaction. An attacker authenticates with any low-privileged WordPress account, then issues crafted HTTP requests to the vulnerable plugin endpoints. The plugin processes the request without validating authorization, and the requested action executes with the effective permissions of an authorized administrator context.
No verified public proof-of-concept code is available. See the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for advisory details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-44031
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected changes to JoomSport data such as leagues, seasons, teams, players, or match results without corresponding administrator activity.
- Requests to admin-ajax.php or plugin REST routes originating from low-privileged user sessions (subscriber, contributor).
- New or modified plugin database entries in wp_* tables owned by JoomSport that do not correlate with an admin audit trail.
Detection Strategies
- Review WordPress access logs for POST requests to JoomSport action handlers made by non-administrative user IDs.
- Enable a WordPress audit-logging plugin to record capability-sensitive actions and correlate them with the acting user's role.
- Compare current plugin data against known-good backups to identify unauthorized modifications.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Alert on HTTP requests to JoomSport endpoints where the authenticated user role is below editor.
- Monitor for spikes in authenticated requests to admin-ajax.php with action parameters referencing JoomSport handlers.
- Track creation of new low-privileged accounts followed by immediate activity against plugin endpoints.
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-44031
Immediate Actions Required
- Update the JoomSport plugin to a version later than 5.6.3 once the vendor publishes a fix, per the Patchstack Vulnerability Report.
- Audit existing WordPress user accounts and remove or downgrade unnecessary low-privileged accounts that could be used to abuse the flaw.
- Restore JoomSport data from a trusted backup if unauthorized modifications are identified.
Patch Information
At the time of this advisory, the vulnerability affects JoomSport versions up to and including 5.6.3. Site administrators should monitor the plugin's WordPress.org page and the Patchstack advisory for a fixed release and apply it as soon as it becomes available.
Workarounds
- Deactivate the JoomSport plugin until a patched version is installed if the site does not currently rely on it.
- Restrict access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and the WordPress REST API from unauthenticated and low-privileged sessions using a web application firewall rule.
- Enforce strong registration controls and disable open user registration to reduce the pool of accounts that can trigger the vulnerable code paths.
# Configuration example: disable open registration and require admin approval
wp option update users_can_register 0
# Deactivate the vulnerable plugin until a fix is released
wp plugin deactivate joomsport-sports-league-results-management
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
