Seo - Broken Access Control (CVE-2024-9161)

Q: Am I affected by this vulnerability?

You are affected if your site runs Seo. Versions below 1.0.229 are vulnerable; that release and later are not. No account is needed to exploit this, so a public site is reachable by anyone.

Q: How do I fix it?

Update Seo to version 1.0.229 or later. That is the complete fix. Until you can update, Request / payload inspection (WAF) in Hack Halt ProSecure contains this class of attack at the request layer.

Q: What can an attacker actually do?

This is a Broken Access Control flaw. An attacker who exploits it can reach actions or data that should have been restricted to someone else.

CVE-2024-9161

Vulnerability CVE-2024-9161 PLUGIN seo MEDIUM

The Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification and loss of data due to a missing capability check on the 'update_metadata' function in all versions up to, and including, 1.0.228. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to insert new and update existing metadata beginning with 'rank_math', and delete arbitrary existing user metadata and term metadata. Deleting existing usermeta can cause a loss of access to the administrator dashboard for any registered users, including Administrators.

CVE-2024-9161

MEDIUM CVSS 6.5 Published 2024-10-05 Updated 2026-06-17

AI Risk Elevated (70/100) Active Exploit: No strong signal Published Exploit: No public exploit references Priority: P3 Priority

Severity Band MEDIUM

CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

Affected Components 1

Reference Links 6

AI Risk Engine Elevated (70/100)

Exploitability High

Active Exploitation No strong signal

Published Exploit Status No public exploit references

Threat Timeline

2024-10-05 CVE published and first recorded in the threat feed.
2026-06-17 Record updated with latest vulnerability metadata.
2026-04-09 AI technical context refreshed for mitigation and impact guidance.
Now Monitoring for follow-up changes, linked references, and new related CVEs.

AI Context

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AI Updated 218 days ago

AI enriched 218 days ago (2026-04-09 08:16 UTC)

Technical Summary

Potential Impact

Severity is MEDIUM (CVSS 6.5). 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 remote code execution potential, low-bar exploit prerequisites.

Primary risk drivers: remote code execution potential, low-bar exploit prerequisites

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

Prioritize remediation where affected components process customer data, admin sessions, or Internet-exposed workflows.

Affected Products

Seo PLUGIN · seo Affected: < 1.0.229 Fixed in: 1.0.229

References

What to do about this

Patch promptly The consequence is significant even where an attacker needs a foothold first.

Fix it

Update Seo to 1.0.229 or later.

That is the complete fix. Everything below is what protects you in the meantime.

Cannot update today? Request / payload inspection (WAF) in Hack Halt ProSecure blocks this class of attack before WordPress processes the request.

Inspect request parameters and bodies for injection, traversal and file-inclusion payloads, and refuse the request rather than logging it.

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Not sure if you are affected?

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Am I affected by this vulnerability?