A critical vulnerability, CVE-2024-11205, has been discovered in the popular WPForms plugin, which is used by over 6 million active WordPress websites. This vulnerability affects businesses that rely on WPForms for payment processing and subscription management, particularly those using Stripe integration. With a high CVSS score of 8.5, the vulnerability allows authenticated attackers to exploit certain weaknesses in the plugin, potentially leading to unauthorized refunds and cancellations of Stripe subscriptions. This poses significant financial risks for businesses, especially those handling payments through the plugin.
The flaw resides in the plugin’s core functionality, specifically within the SingleActionsHandler class, which handles Stripe payment actions. The vulnerable functions, ajax_single_payment_refund() and ajax_single_payment_cancel(), are supposed to be restricted to administrators. However, due to improper capability checks in the wpforms_is_admin_ajax() function, attackers with subscriber-level or higher privileges can bypass these protections and execute unauthorized actions. Although nonce protection is implemented, attackers can still exploit the flaw by retrieving and using the nonce.
The impact of this vulnerability is severe, as it allows attackers to initiate unauthorized refunds for legitimate payments or cancel active Stripe subscriptions. Such actions can disrupt business operations, leading to financial loss and damaged customer relationships. Businesses affected by this vulnerability may also face additional operational costs as they work to undo the damage caused by unauthorized refunds or cancellations. Given the widespread use of WPForms, millions of websites are at risk, making this flaw a major concern for many organizations.
To mitigate the risks associated with CVE-2024-11205, users are strongly encouraged to update their WPForms plugin to version 1.9.2.2 or later. This updated version addresses the missing authorization checks, ensuring that only authorized users can perform payment-related actions. Additionally, WordPress site administrators should review user roles and permissions to ensure that only trusted individuals have access to sensitive functions. Keeping the plugin up to date and monitoring for any suspicious activity is essential to maintaining the security and integrity of affected websites.
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