CVE-2024-9161 Missing authorization in Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings

Medium 6.5 Published 5 Oct 2024 Updated 8 Apr 2026

Unauthenticated attackers can modify or delete user and term metadata, potentially locking administrators out of the dashboard.

Exploited in the wild: Not known
Login needed: Not needed
Attackable: Over the internet
Victim action needed: Not needed
Fix: None listed

What is CVE-2024-9161?

CVE-2024-9161 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in rankmath Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings, published on 5 Oct 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

Official description

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.

Weakness: CWE-862

Which versions are affected by CVE-2024-9161?

It affects 1 product.

Products include Rankmath Seo.

How do I fix CVE-2024-9161?

No fix has been published for CVE-2024-9161 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.

Is CVE-2024-9161 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2024-9161 exists.

Public exploit code: 1 Nuclei template.

Sources

Also known as GHSA-rxpx-fpwf-9q46.