Blog

"Prevention is cheaper than a breach"

Home / Threats / CVE-2021-24649

CVE-2021-24649 - Before 3 Plugin

CVE-2021-24649

The WP User Frontend WordPress plugin before 3.5.29 uses a user supplied argument called urhidden in its registration form, which contains the role for the account to be created with, encrypted via wpuf_encryption(). This could allow an attacker having access to the AUTH_KEY and AUTH_SALT constant (via an arbitrary file access issue for example, or if the blog is using the default keys) to create an account with any role they want, such as admin

CVE-2021-24649

CRITICAL CVSS 9.8 Published 2022-11-21 Updated 2025-04-30
AI Risk Critical (90/100) Active Exploit: No strong signal Published Exploit: No public exploit references Priority: P1 Immediate
Severity Band CRITICAL
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected Components 2
Reference Links 1
AI Risk Engine Critical (90/100)
Exploitability High
Active Exploitation No strong signal
Published Exploit Status No public exploit references

Threat Timeline

  1. 2022-11-21 CVE published and first recorded in the threat feed.
  2. 2025-04-30 Record updated with latest vulnerability metadata.
  3. 2026-04-12 AI technical context refreshed for mitigation and impact guidance.
  4. Now Monitoring for follow-up changes, linked references, and new related CVEs.

AI Context

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AI Updated 3 days ago

AI enriched 3 days ago (2026-04-12 03:22 UTC)

Technical Summary

The WP User Frontend WordPress plugin before 3.5.29 uses a user supplied argument called urhidden in its registration form, which contains the role for the account to be created with, encrypted via wpuf_encryption(). This could allow an attacker having access to the AUTH_KEY and AUTH_SALT constant (via an arbitrary file access issue for example, or if the blog is using the default keys) to create an account with any role they want, such as admin

Potential Impact

Severity is CRITICAL (CVSS 9.8). Depending on deployment context, affected components may be exposed to unauthorized actions or data integrity risk.

Exploitability Assessment

Exploitability is assessed as High based on severity and technical exposure profile.

Primary risk drivers: severity and technical exposure profile

Mitigation Recommendations

Validate affected product versions, prioritize patching, and monitor references for vendor remediation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, apply compensating controls and limit exposure of vulnerable surfaces.

Detection & Monitoring

Track authentication anomalies, unexpected file writes, and suspicious plugin API activity around affected components.

Business Impact Lens

AI risk score 90/100 (Critical, High) with priority P1 Immediate. Prioritize remediation where affected components process customer data, admin sessions, or Internet-exposed workflows.

Affected Products

Before 3 PLUGIN · before-3 Affected: < 3.5.29 Fixed in: 3.5.29
Wp User Frontend PLUGIN · wp-user-frontend Affected: < 3.5.29 Fixed in: 3.5.29
Scroll to top