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.
Conclusion & alert: CVE-2024-9161 is rated Moderate Risk (63.3/100): CVSS Medium severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 23.64%, 96th percentile). Core evidence: EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. EPSS rose +3.66% 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.
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 | 2026-05-21 | 19.98% | 23.64% | +3.66% |
| 2 | 2026-05-05 | 23.64% | 19.98% | -3.66% |
| 3 | 2026-05-02 | — | 23.64% | — |
Full EPSS history (45 records total)
CVSS metrics for this CVE.
| Base score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability | Impact | Score source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6.5 | 3.1 | MEDIUM |
|
3.9 | 2.5 | [email protected] |