CVE-2024-47314 Overview
CVE-2024-47314 is a missing authorization vulnerability in the Sunshine Photo Cart WordPress plugin developed by sunshinephotocart. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 3.2.8. Attackers with low-privilege authenticated access can exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels to reach functionality intended for higher-privileged users. The vulnerability maps to [CWE-862] (Missing Authorization) and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 8.8. Successful exploitation compromises the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the WordPress site running the plugin.
Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers with minimal privileges can bypass access controls in Sunshine Photo Cart to perform administrative actions, exposing customer data and site content.
Affected Products
- Sunshine Photo Cart WordPress plugin versions through 3.2.8
- WordPress sites with the sunshine-photo-cart plugin installed and activated
- E-commerce photography sites relying on Sunshine Photo Cart for gallery and order management
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-11-01 - CVE-2024-47314 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-47314
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability stems from missing authorization checks within plugin actions exposed to authenticated WordPress users. Sunshine Photo Cart fails to verify whether the requesting user holds the required capability before executing sensitive operations. Any authenticated user, including subscriber-level accounts commonly available on WordPress e-commerce sites, can invoke restricted functionality. The result is a broken access control condition that impacts confidentiality, integrity, and availability of protected resources within the plugin's scope.
Root Cause
The root cause is the absence of capability checks such as current_user_can() and nonce validation on plugin endpoints. Access control enforcement relies on incorrectly configured security levels rather than explicit permission verification. Endpoints intended for shop managers or administrators remain reachable by lower-privileged roles, allowing horizontal and vertical privilege escalation across plugin features. This class of flaw is common in WordPress plugins that expose AJAX handlers or admin-post actions without server-side authorization.
Attack Vector
The attack is executed over the network by an authenticated user with low privileges. No user interaction is required beyond issuing HTTP requests to the vulnerable endpoints. An attacker registers or compromises a low-privileged WordPress account, then sends crafted requests to Sunshine Photo Cart action handlers. Because authorization is not enforced, the plugin processes the request as if a privileged user submitted it. See the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for further technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-47314
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected changes to Sunshine Photo Cart galleries, orders, pricing, or customer records made by non-administrator accounts
- HTTP POST requests to admin-ajax.php or admin-post.php containing Sunshine Photo Cart action parameters originating from low-privileged user sessions
- New or modified plugin configuration entries in the wp_options table with no corresponding administrator audit log entry
Detection Strategies
- Review WordPress access logs for authenticated requests to sunshine-photo-cart endpoints correlated with subscriber or customer role sessions
- Enable WordPress audit logging to record capability-sensitive actions and flag deviations from expected role behavior
- Compare installed plugin version against 3.2.9 or later; any earlier version is exposed
Monitoring Recommendations
- Alert on bulk data reads or writes to Sunshine Photo Cart tables by non-administrator sessions
- Monitor for account registration spikes on sites running vulnerable plugin versions
- Instrument web application firewall (WAF) rules to log requests to plugin action handlers and flag anomalous parameter values
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-47314
Immediate Actions Required
- Update Sunshine Photo Cart to the version released after 3.2.8 that addresses the missing authorization flaw
- Audit WordPress user accounts and remove or downgrade unnecessary low-privileged accounts that could be leveraged for exploitation
- Rotate credentials for any accounts that may have interacted with the vulnerable plugin endpoints
Patch Information
The vendor addressed the issue in a version subsequent to 3.2.8. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the fixed version reference and confirm the update through the WordPress plugin repository before deploying.
Workarounds
- Deactivate the Sunshine Photo Cart plugin until the patched version is installed if immediate upgrade is not possible
- Restrict access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and /wp-admin/admin-post.php at the WAF layer for user roles that do not require plugin functionality
- Disable open user registration to reduce the pool of low-privileged accounts available to attackers
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
