CVE-2024-11638 in Gtbabel Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/10/2025
The Gtbabel WordPress plugin before 6.6.9 does not ensure that the URL to perform code analysis upon belongs to the blog which could allow unauthenticated attackers to retrieve a logged in user (such as admin) cookies by making them open a crafted URL as the request made to analysed the URL contains such cookies.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/10/2025
The CVE-2024-11638 vulnerability affects the Gtbabel WordPress plugin version 6.6.8 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of user authentication mechanisms. This vulnerability stems from insufficient validation of URLs used for code analysis within the plugin's functionality, creating an avenue for attackers to exploit the system's trust model. The flaw allows unauthenticated adversaries to manipulate the plugin's URL analysis feature to target specific blog instances, potentially compromising user sessions and administrative privileges.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability resides in the plugin's failure to properly validate and sanitize URL inputs during the code analysis process. When users click on crafted URLs that trigger the plugin's analysis functionality, the system does not verify that the target URL belongs to the same blog instance where the analysis is initiated. This lack of proper validation creates a cross-site request forgery (csrf) like condition where malicious actors can construct URLs that appear legitimate to the plugin's analysis engine but actually target the victim's authenticated session. The vulnerability specifically enables attackers to harvest session cookies from logged-in users, including administrators, by leveraging the plugin's legitimate functionality to make requests on behalf of the victim.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted, particularly within WordPress environments where administrative privileges are highly valued. Attackers can exploit this flaw to perform session hijacking attacks, potentially gaining full administrative control over affected WordPress sites. The vulnerability's exploitation requires minimal user interaction beyond clicking a malicious link, making it particularly dangerous in social engineering campaigns. The compromised cookies can be used to impersonate legitimate users and perform unauthorized actions such as modifying content, installing malicious plugins, changing user permissions, or accessing sensitive administrative functions. This represents a direct violation of the principle of least privilege and undermines the fundamental security model of web applications.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-11638 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to version 6.6.9 or later, which contains the necessary fixes to address the URL validation vulnerability. Organizations should also implement additional security measures including content security policy headers to prevent unauthorized script execution, regular monitoring of plugin vulnerabilities through security scanners, and implementation of web application firewalls to detect suspicious URL analysis requests. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-601 and CWE-352, representing URL redirection issues and cross-site request forgery vulnerabilities respectively. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this vulnerability maps to T1566 (Phishing) and T1548.003 (Abuse of Cloud Infrastructure) as it enables initial access through crafted URLs and can be leveraged for privilege escalation. Network administrators should also consider implementing proper input validation mechanisms and ensuring that all plugin components properly validate their inputs against expected domains and origins to prevent similar issues in other WordPress plugins or web applications.