Description

Subscriber Broken Access Control in Ditty <= 3.1.67 versions.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "5.3",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-27T10:16:39.297Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-27T10:16:39.297Z",
  "executiveSummary": "A broken access control vulnerability has been identified in the Ditty plugin for WordPress, specifically affecting all versions up to and including 3.1.67.\nThe vulnerability allows authenticated users with the 'Subscriber' role to perform unauthorized actions due to improper capability checks within the plugin's functional logic.\nThis flaw grants low-privileged users access to sensitive operations that should be restricted to administrators or users with elevated privileges.\nThe impact of this vulnerability includes the potential for unauthorized data manipulation, configuration changes, or the execution of administrative tasks, significantly compromising the integrity and security posture of the affected WordPress site.\nExploitation does not require advanced technical knowledge, as the vulnerability resides in the application's failure to enforce role-based access control (RBAC) on sensitive endpoints.\nUsers are at risk of privilege escalation-related activities, which could potentially lead to wider system compromise depending on the specific administrative functions exposed by the plugin.\nThe primary requirement for exploitation is a registered user account on the target WordPress installation.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability exists because the Ditty plugin fails to implement consistent and rigorous authorization checks across its administrative modules. Specifically, the plugin's backend functions fail to verify the capabilities of the current user session before processing requests, effectively trusting user-supplied input to execute sensitive plugin-related actions.\nThe root cause is an inadequate implementation of WordPress capability checks, such as 'current_user_can()', within the functions handling administrative requests. By failing to validate whether a user possesses 'manage_options' or equivalent high-level permissions, the plugin exposes its underlying logic to unauthorized users with a lower privilege tier.\nThe attack flow begins when an authenticated Subscriber sends a crafted HTTP request to a vulnerable endpoint provided by the Ditty plugin. Since the backend code lacks a robust authorization gate, the server processes the request as if it originated from an authorized administrator. The attacker can perform operations such as modifying plugin settings, manipulating Ditty content, or triggering backend processes that are typically protected from non-administrative roles.\nBecause the plugin interacts directly with the WordPress database and performs plugin-specific operations, this access control failure can be leveraged to alter existing data or manipulate the plugin's core behavior. In scenarios where these administrative functions include file management or code execution, the impact could extend to full site compromise.\nThe affected versions are <= 3.1.67. The exposure is limited to authenticated users, meaning that an attacker must have at least an entry-level subscriber account. However, since many WordPress installations allow open registration, the barrier to entry for an attacker is minimal. The vulnerability is network-exposed, as the malicious requests are handled via standard HTTP POST or GET methods sent to the WordPress application server.\nPost-exploitation impact varies depending on the specific administrative actions exposed, but fundamentally, this results in a breakdown of the principle of least privilege. An attacker can effectively bypass the intended security boundaries of the WordPress dashboard, potentially chaining this vulnerability with others or utilizing the plugin’s features to assist in further reconnaissance or persistent malicious activity."
}