CVE-2024-11902 in Slope Widgets Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/17/2024
The Slope Widgets plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's 'slope-reservations' shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 4.2.11 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
Statistical analysis made it clear that VulDB provides the best quality for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/17/2025
The Slope Widgets plugin for WordPress presents a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-11902 affecting versions up to and including 4.2.11. This vulnerability resides within the plugin's 'slope-reservations' shortcode implementation and represents a significant security flaw that undermines the integrity of WordPress installations. The vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization and insufficient output escaping mechanisms that fail to properly validate or escape user-supplied attributes before processing them within the plugin's shortcode functionality.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through the manipulation of shortcode attributes that are processed by the plugin without adequate security measures. Attackers with contributor-level access or higher can leverage this weakness to inject malicious scripts into the plugin's shortcode parameters, which are then stored within the WordPress database. When other users access pages containing these compromised shortcodes, the injected scripts execute in their browsers, creating a persistent cross-site scripting attack vector that can affect any user who views the affected content.
This vulnerability operates under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, specifically manifesting as a stored XSS variant where the malicious code is permanently stored on the server and executed whenever the compromised page is accessed. The attack chain follows the typical pattern of privilege escalation followed by code injection, where the authenticated attacker uses their contributor privileges to insert malicious content that persists beyond their immediate session. The operational impact extends beyond simple script execution as it can enable session hijacking, credential theft, and further exploitation of the compromised WordPress environment.
The security implications of this vulnerability are particularly severe given that it requires only contributor-level access to exploit, making it accessible to users who typically have limited administrative capabilities. This low privilege requirement significantly increases the attack surface and potential impact within WordPress installations where multiple users with varying permission levels exist. The vulnerability affects the core integrity of the content management system by allowing attackers to inject malicious payloads that can manipulate user sessions and potentially escalate their privileges further within the compromised environment.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-11902 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the input sanitization and output escaping deficiencies. Organizations should implement strict input validation mechanisms that sanitize all user-supplied attributes before processing them within shortcode parameters, while also ensuring proper output escaping is applied to prevent script execution. Additionally, administrators should conduct thorough security audits of all installed plugins to identify similar vulnerabilities and implement network-level protections such as web application firewalls that can detect and block malicious script injection attempts. The remediation process must also include user access review to ensure that only trusted individuals maintain contributor-level permissions, as this vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of principle of least privilege in WordPress security management.