CVE-2024-0827 in Make Your Blog Posts Accessible With Text to Speech Audio Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/13/2024
The Play.ht – Make Your Blog Posts Accessible With Text to Speech Audio plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 3.6.4. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on several functions. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to invoke those functions via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/12/2026
The Play.ht WordPress plugin presents a critical cross-site request forgery vulnerability that affects all versions up to and including 3.6.4. This vulnerability stems from the absence of proper nonce validation mechanisms within multiple plugin functions, creating a significant security gap that could be exploited by unauthenticated attackers. The flaw fundamentally undermines the plugin's ability to verify legitimate user requests, as nonces serve as crucial cryptographic tokens that ensure requests originate from authorized sources within the WordPress ecosystem.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability allows attackers to construct malicious requests that can trigger administrative functions within the plugin's framework without requiring authentication. When an administrator visits a compromised page or clicks on a malicious link, the forged request can execute unintended actions such as modifying plugin settings, generating audio content, or manipulating user data. This particular weakness aligns with CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities in web applications, where the lack of proper validation mechanisms enables unauthorized actions to be performed on behalf of authenticated users.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data manipulation to potentially compromise the entire WordPress site's integrity and security posture. An attacker could leverage this weakness to gain persistent access through plugin configuration changes, create malicious audio content that could be used for phishing campaigns, or even establish backdoors through compromised plugin functionality. The vulnerability's exploitation requires social engineering to trick administrators into clicking malicious links, but once successful, it provides attackers with elevated privileges within the plugin's administrative interface.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate plugin updates to versions that implement proper nonce validation, as well as implementing additional security measures such as role-based access controls and monitoring for unusual administrative activities. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and security headers to detect and prevent CSRF attacks. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper input validation and authentication mechanisms in WordPress plugins, aligning with ATT&CK technique T1566 which covers social engineering tactics that exploit user trust to execute malicious actions. Regular security audits of WordPress plugins and maintaining updated security practices remain essential defensive measures against such vulnerabilities that could otherwise provide attackers with unauthorized access to critical system functions.