CVE-2024-12365 | W3 Total Cache <= 2.8.1 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Missing Authorization to Server-Side Request Forgery

The W3 Total Cache plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of data due to a missing capability check on the is_w3tc_admin_page function in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.1. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to obtain the plugin's nonce value and perform unauthorized actions, resulting in information disclosure, service plan limits consumption as well as making web requests to arbitrary locations originating from the web application that can be used to query information from internal services, including instance metadata on cloud-based applications.

Published: 2025-01-14 Last update: 2025-01-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2024-12365 is rated High Risk (68.6/100): CVSS High severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 18.26%, 95th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +1.28% over the last day, indicating growing attacker interest. Mandatory action: High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2024-12365

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-04-08 16.98% 18.26% +1.28%
2 2026-02-22 13.77% 16.98% +3.21%
3 2025-11-21 13.77%

Full EPSS history (23 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2024-12365

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.5 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C)
Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.1 4.7 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2024-12365

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2024-12365

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
boldgrid w3_total_cache < 2.8.2 cpe:2.3:a:boldgrid:w3_total_cache:*:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*

References for CVE-2024-12365

URL Tags
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/Extension_ImageService_Plugin_Admin.php#L200 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/Extensions_Plugin_Admin.php#L246 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/Extensions_Plugin_Admin.php#L55 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/Generic_Plugin_Admin.php#L385 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/Generic_Plugin_Admin.php#L516 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/Generic_Plugin_Admin.php#L55 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/Root_Loader.php#L269 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/UsageStatistics_Plugin_Admin.php#L10 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/UsageStatistics_Plugin_Admin.php#L94 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/Util_Admin.php#L822 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/inc/options/common/footer.php#L49 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/inc/options/common/top_nav_bar.php#L217 Patch
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/w3-total-cache/tags/2.8.0/w3-total-cache.php#L71 Patch
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/196e629f-7c77-4bcb-8224-305a0108b630?source=cve Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence