CVE-2024-56000: K Elements Privilege Escalation Flaw

CVE-2024-56000 Overview

CVE-2024-56000 is an Incorrect Privilege Assignment vulnerability (CWE-266) in the SeventhQueen K Elements WordPress plugin that allows unauthenticated attackers to perform privilege escalation, potentially leading to complete account takeover. This vulnerability affects K Elements versions prior to 5.4.0.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability to escalate privileges and take over user accounts on WordPress sites running vulnerable versions of the K Elements plugin.

Affected Products

• SeventhQueen K Elements plugin versions prior to 5.4.0
• WordPress installations using vulnerable K Elements plugin versions

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-02-18 - CVE-2024-56000 published to NVD
• 2026-04-01 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-56000

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from an Incorrect Privilege Assignment issue (CWE-266) in the K Elements WordPress plugin developed by SeventhQueen. The flaw allows unauthenticated users to exploit improper privilege handling mechanisms within the plugin to gain elevated access to user accounts.

The K Elements plugin is a popular WordPress theme companion plugin that provides various design elements and functionality. The vulnerability exists due to inadequate verification of user privileges during certain operations, enabling attackers to bypass normal authentication controls.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-56000 lies in improper privilege assignment logic within the K Elements plugin. The plugin fails to properly validate user permissions before granting access to privileged functionality, resulting in a privilege escalation vector. This type of vulnerability typically occurs when:

• User role verification is missing or improperly implemented
• Session management does not properly enforce privilege boundaries
• Authentication tokens can be manipulated to gain unauthorized access

Attack Vector

The attack vector for this vulnerability is unauthenticated, meaning attackers do not require any prior authentication to exploit the flaw. An attacker can interact with the vulnerable plugin endpoints to manipulate privilege assignments and potentially take over existing user accounts, including administrator accounts.

The exploitation does not require user interaction and can be performed remotely over the network. Due to the unauthenticated nature of this vulnerability, WordPress sites running affected versions of K Elements are at significant risk.

For detailed technical analysis, refer to the Patchstack security advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-56000

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected changes to user account credentials or email addresses
• New administrator accounts appearing without authorization
• Unusual login activity from unfamiliar IP addresses
• Modified user privileges or roles in the WordPress database

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress user tables for unauthorized modifications to user metadata
• Review web server access logs for suspicious requests to K Elements plugin endpoints
• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect privilege escalation attempts
• Enable audit logging for all user account changes within WordPress

Monitoring Recommendations

• Configure alerts for any changes to administrator accounts or user roles
• Monitor for HTTP requests containing suspicious parameters targeting the k-elements plugin directory
• Implement file integrity monitoring on WordPress core and plugin files
• Review authentication logs for anomalous login patterns or account access

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-56000

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the K Elements plugin to version 5.4.0 or later immediately
• Audit all WordPress user accounts for unauthorized changes or new accounts
• Review and reset credentials for any potentially compromised accounts
• Temporarily disable the K Elements plugin if immediate patching is not possible

Patch Information

SeventhQueen has addressed this vulnerability in K Elements version 5.4.0. WordPress administrators should update to this version or later through the WordPress admin dashboard or by downloading the latest version from the official source. After updating, verify the plugin version is 5.4.0 or higher in the WordPress plugins administration page.

Workarounds

• Disable or remove the K Elements plugin until patching is possible
• Implement IP-based access restrictions to the WordPress admin area
• Enable two-factor authentication for all administrator accounts
• Use a Web Application Firewall to filter malicious requests targeting the plugin

# Configuration example - Disable K Elements plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate k-elements

# Verify current plugin version
wp plugin list --name=k-elements --field=version

# Update K Elements to latest version
wp plugin update k-elements