# CVE-2024-9161: Rank Math SEO – AI SEO Tools to Dominate SEO Rankings <= 1.0.228 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated User and Term Metadata Insert, Update, and Delete

- Exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2024-10-05
- CVSS: 6.5 MEDIUM (v3.1)
- EPSS: 2.1% (82th percentile)
- CWE: CWE-862

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.

## Edge WAF coverage (claimed by vendors, not measured)

| Vendor | Status | First rule | Days after publication |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Before feed history | — | — |
| AWS | No public claim | — | — |
| Microsoft Azure | No public claim | — | — |
| Google Cloud | No public claim | — | — |
| Fastly | Before feed history | — | — |
| F5 | Rule published | 2026-01-20 | 472 |
| Akamai | No public source | — | — |
| OWASP CRS | No public claim | — | — |

### F5

- 2026-01-20 · new · rule 200013160
  > Added: signature 200013160 "WordPress Rank Math SEO Plugin Broken Access Control" (Authentication/Authorization Attacks, risk Medium), systems: WordPress. References: CVE-2024-9161.
  Source: https://docs.cloud.f5.com/docs-v2/platform/changelogs/security-details-changelog
- 2026-07-07 · updated · rule 200013160
  > Updated: signature 200013160 "WordPress Rank Math SEO Plugin Broken Access Control" (Authentication/Authorization Attacks, risk Medium), systems: WordPress. References: CVE-2024-9161.
  Source: https://docs.cloud.f5.com/docs-v2/platform/changelogs/security-details-changelog

## Our test (measured)

- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 1, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: passed (0 of 2 requests blocked), template CVE-2024-9161, 2026-11-02
- OWASP Core Rule Set 4.25.0, paranoia level 2, anomaly threshold 5, default CRS settings: passed (0 of 2 requests blocked), template CVE-2024-9161, 2026-11-02

"No public claim" means no vendor statement names this CVE; "Before feed history" means the CVE is older than the vendor feed. In both cases generic rules may still block it.

HTML: https://cve.vigilbase.com/cve/CVE-2024-9161 · JSON: https://cve.vigilbase.com/api/v1/cves/CVE-2024-9161