CVE-2024-11273 in Contact Form & SMTP Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/25/2025
The Contact Form & SMTP Plugin for WordPress by PirateForms WordPress plugin before 2.6.0 does not sanitise and escape some of its settings, which could allow high privilege users such as admin to perform Stored Cross-Site Scripting attacks even when the unfiltered_html capability is disallowed (for example in multisite setup).
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/25/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-11273 affects the Contact Form & SMTP Plugin for WordPress developed by PirateForms, specifically versions prior to 2.6.0. This represents a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of WordPress installations by enabling stored cross-site scripting attacks through improperly sanitized plugin settings. The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it targets high-privilege users such as administrators, who typically possess elevated permissions within the WordPress ecosystem. The flaw exists in the plugin's handling of user input within its configuration settings, where insufficient sanitization and escaping mechanisms fail to properly neutralize malicious script content that could be injected by authenticated users.
The technical nature of this vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to implement proper input validation and output escaping for administrative settings. When administrators configure the plugin's contact form or SMTP settings, the input data is not adequately sanitized before being stored in the WordPress database. This stored data is then subsequently rendered back to users without proper HTML escaping, creating an environment where malicious scripts can persist and execute in the context of other users' browsers. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous in multisite WordPress environments where the unfiltered_html capability is typically restricted to prevent XSS attacks, yet this flaw allows authenticated administrators to bypass these protections through the plugin's settings interface. This behavior aligns with CWE-79, which describes cross-site scripting vulnerabilities that occur when untrusted data is directly included in web pages without proper validation or escaping.
The operational impact of CVE-2024-11273 extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, data exfiltration, and privilege escalation within the WordPress environment. An attacker with administrative access could inject malicious JavaScript that could steal cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, or even modify content within the WordPress installation. The vulnerability is particularly concerning in enterprise or multi-user environments where administrators might be less vigilant about the security implications of plugin configurations. In a multisite setup, where security policies are often more stringent, this vulnerability effectively creates a backdoor that allows privilege escalation even when standard security measures are in place. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious scripts persist until manually removed, making detection and remediation more challenging.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-11273 primarily focus on immediate plugin updates to version 2.6.0 or later, which contain the necessary sanitization and escaping fixes. Administrators should also conduct thorough security audits of their WordPress installations to identify any existing malicious code that may have been injected through this vulnerability. Additional protective measures include implementing strict input validation at the WordPress level, monitoring plugin configurations for unauthorized changes, and maintaining comprehensive backups that can be quickly restored in case of compromise. Organizations should consider implementing web application firewalls and content security policies to add additional layers of protection against similar vulnerabilities. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this vulnerability under T1548.005, which covers abuse of credentials and privilege escalation through web application vulnerabilities, making it a significant threat vector for attackers seeking to maintain persistent access within WordPress environments. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be implemented to identify similar issues in other plugins that might not have been properly sanitized.