CVE-2026-24967: Amelia Booking Auth Bypass Vulnerability

CVE-2026-24967 Overview

CVE-2026-24967 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability affecting the Amelia booking plugin for WordPress. This broken access control flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels, potentially exposing sensitive booking information or allowing unauthorized actions within the plugin's functionality.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can bypass access controls to access restricted functionality or data in the Amelia WordPress booking plugin.

Affected Products

• Amelia WordPress Plugin version 1.2.38 and earlier
• WordPress installations utilizing the ameliabooking plugin

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-02-03 - CVE-2026-24967 published to NVD
• 2026-02-03 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2026-24967

Vulnerability Analysis

This vulnerability stems from CWE-862 (Missing Authorization), a common weakness where the software does not perform authorization checks when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action. In the context of the Amelia booking plugin, this means certain functionality that should require authentication or specific user roles can be accessed without proper validation.

The attack is network-accessible, requires low complexity to exploit, and can be executed without any user interaction or privileges. The primary impact is unauthorized information disclosure, where attackers may gain access to booking data, customer information, or other sensitive details managed by the plugin.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2026-24967 is the absence of proper authorization checks in the Amelia plugin's request handling logic. When processing requests to protected endpoints or functions, the plugin fails to verify whether the requesting user has the appropriate permissions or authentication status. This allows unauthenticated users to access resources that should be restricted to authenticated users or administrators.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploited over the network through HTTP requests to the WordPress installation running the vulnerable Amelia plugin. An attacker can craft requests to specific plugin endpoints that lack proper authorization validation. Since no authentication is required (PR:N in the CVSS vector), any remote attacker can attempt exploitation without needing valid credentials.

The attack flow involves identifying plugin endpoints, sending unauthenticated requests to those endpoints, and receiving responses that should only be available to authorized users. This could expose customer booking details, appointment schedules, or internal configuration data depending on which specific endpoints lack authorization checks.

Detection Methods for CVE-2026-24967

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual access patterns to Amelia plugin AJAX endpoints from unauthenticated sessions
• Unexpected data exports or API responses containing booking information
• Access logs showing repeated requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with Amelia-specific action parameters from external IPs
• Anomalous requests to plugin REST API endpoints without proper authentication headers

Detection Strategies

• Monitor WordPress access logs for requests to Amelia plugin endpoints lacking authenticated session cookies
• Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and alert on suspicious access patterns to the ameliabooking plugin
• Review audit logs for unauthorized data access attempts or unusual query patterns
• Deploy endpoint detection solutions to identify exploitation attempts targeting WordPress plugin vulnerabilities

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for WordPress AJAX requests, particularly those related to booking plugins
• Configure alerts for high volumes of unauthenticated requests to plugin-specific endpoints
• Implement rate limiting on sensitive plugin endpoints to reduce automated exploitation attempts
• Regularly audit access logs for patterns consistent with broken access control exploitation

How to Mitigate CVE-2026-24967

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Amelia WordPress plugin to a version newer than 1.2.38 that addresses this vulnerability
• Review and restrict access to WordPress admin areas and plugin endpoints at the network level
• Audit existing booking data for signs of unauthorized access
• Consider temporarily disabling the plugin if an update is not immediately available and the site contains sensitive booking data

Patch Information

Organizations should update the Amelia booking plugin to the latest available version that addresses this missing authorization vulnerability. The vulnerability affects versions through 1.2.38, so any version newer than this should include the necessary authorization checks. Check the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the latest patch status and detailed remediation guidance.

Workarounds

• Implement additional authorization checks at the web server level using .htaccess rules or nginx configuration to restrict access to plugin endpoints
• Use a WordPress security plugin to add extra authentication layers for sensitive plugin functionality
• Configure a web application firewall (WAF) to block unauthenticated requests to known vulnerable endpoints
• Restrict network access to the WordPress admin and AJAX interfaces to trusted IP ranges where feasible

# Example .htaccess restriction for WordPress AJAX endpoints
# Add to WordPress root .htaccess file to restrict ameliabooking actions
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
    RewriteEngine On
    RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
    RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=.*amelia.* [NC]
    RewriteCond %{HTTP_COOKIE} !wordpress_logged_in
    RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
</IfModule>