CVE-2024-13575 in Web Stories Enhancer Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 02/18/2025
The Web Stories Enhancer – Level Up Your Web Stories plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's 'web_stories_enhancer' shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 1.3 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.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/18/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-13575 affects the Web Stories Enhancer plugin for WordPress, specifically targeting versions up to and including 1.3. This represents a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of WordPress websites relying on this plugin for web story enhancements. The vulnerability manifests through the plugin's 'web_stories_enhancer' shortcode implementation, where insufficient input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms fail to properly validate or escape user-supplied attributes. The flaw exists within the core plugin architecture that processes shortcode parameters, creating a persistent cross-site scripting vector that can be exploited by authenticated attackers with contributor-level privileges or higher.
The technical nature of this vulnerability places it squarely within the category of stored cross-site scripting attacks as defined by CWE-079, which specifically addresses situations where web applications fail to properly escape output or validate input, leading to malicious scripts being stored and executed against unsuspecting users. The vulnerability operates through the plugin's shortcode processing mechanism where user-provided attributes are directly incorporated into the generated HTML output without proper sanitization. This allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that gets stored within the WordPress database and subsequently executed whenever any user accesses pages containing the compromised shortcode. The attack requires minimal privileges, as contributors and above can manipulate the plugin's shortcode attributes, making this vulnerability particularly dangerous in multi-user environments where content creators may have elevated permissions.
From an operational perspective, this vulnerability creates a significant risk for WordPress sites using the affected plugin, as it enables attackers to execute arbitrary scripts in the context of any user's browser who visits pages containing the compromised web story content. The stored nature of the vulnerability means that the malicious code persists in the database, ensuring repeated execution against all users who access affected pages without requiring additional exploitation attempts. This makes the vulnerability particularly insidious as it can remain undetected for extended periods while continuously compromising user sessions and potentially enabling further attacks such as credential theft, session hijacking, or redirection to malicious sites. The impact extends beyond simple script execution, as the attacker can leverage the victim's authenticated session to perform actions they would normally be authorized to perform.
The mitigation strategy for CVE-2024-13575 centers on immediate plugin updates to versions that address the input sanitization and output escaping deficiencies. Administrators should prioritize updating to the latest available version of the Web Stories Enhancer plugin, which should include proper validation and sanitization of shortcode attributes. Additionally, implementing comprehensive input validation measures that follow secure coding practices such as those recommended in the OWASP Secure Coding Practices can help prevent similar vulnerabilities. Network-level monitoring should be enhanced to detect suspicious shortcode usage patterns, and administrators should consider implementing role-based access controls that limit contributor-level permissions to only necessary functions. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of regular security audits of third-party plugins and adherence to the principle of least privilege, ensuring that users have only the minimum permissions required for their specific roles within the WordPress environment. Organizations should also implement automated vulnerability scanning tools that can identify and alert on potentially compromised shortcode parameters within their web applications.