CVE-2023-24378 in Codeat Glossary Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/06/2023
Auth. (contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Codeat Glossary plugin <= 2.1.27 versions.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/24/2023
The CVE-2023-24378 vulnerability represents a stored cross-site scripting flaw within the Codeat Glossary plugin for WordPress, affecting versions up to and including 2.1.27. This security weakness resides in the plugin's authentication handling mechanisms, specifically targeting users with contributor privileges or higher access levels. The vulnerability allows authenticated attackers to inject malicious scripts into the plugin's glossary entries, which then execute in the context of other users' browsers when they view these entries. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious payload persists in the application's database and affects multiple users over time rather than requiring immediate exploitation during a single session.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the plugin's glossary entry creation and editing functionality where user input is not properly sanitized or validated before being stored and subsequently rendered. When a contributor or higher-privileged user creates or modifies a glossary term, the plugin fails to adequately filter or escape special characters in the input data, allowing attackers to inject javascript code or other malicious payloads. This flaw directly maps to CWE-79, which defines Cross-Site Scripting as a vulnerability where untrusted data is embedded into web pages viewed by other users. The vulnerability's impact is amplified by the fact that it requires only contributor-level privileges, making it accessible to users who typically have limited administrative capabilities but can still affect the broader user base through persistent script injection.
The operational consequences of this vulnerability extend beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation within the WordPress environment. An attacker could craft malicious glossary entries that redirect users to phishing sites, steal cookies and session tokens, or even inject additional malicious code that could compromise the entire WordPress installation. The vulnerability's persistence means that once exploited, the malicious scripts will continue to execute for all users who view the affected glossary entries, potentially affecting hundreds or thousands of users depending on the size and usage of the WordPress site. This makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in multi-user environments where glossary entries are frequently accessed and shared.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2023-24378 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the XSS vulnerability, as the vendor has likely released patches to resolve the sanitization issues. Administrators should implement input validation and output encoding mechanisms to prevent malicious data from being stored or executed, following the principle of least privilege by restricting contributor access to glossary creation where possible. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional protection layers against script execution, while regular security audits of plugin functionality should include thorough testing of input handling and sanitization routines. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious script injection patterns, and establish monitoring procedures to identify unauthorized glossary modifications that might indicate exploitation attempts. This vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and output encoding in web applications, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for credential access through malicious content injection.