CVE-2024-1565 in EmbedPress Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 06/13/2024
The EmbedPress – Embed PDF, YouTube, Google Docs, Vimeo, Wistia Videos, Audios, Maps & Any Documents in Gutenberg & Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the PDF Widget URL in all versions up to, and including, 3.9.10 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with contributor-level and above permissions 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 • 03/24/2025
The EmbedPress plugin for WordPress represents a widely used tool that enables users to embed various media types including PDF documents, video content from YouTube and Vimeo, audio files, and maps directly into WordPress pages using popular page builders like Gutenberg and Elementor. This functionality simplifies content management for WordPress site administrators and contributors who need to integrate external media resources without complex coding knowledge. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 3.9.10, making it a significant concern for thousands of WordPress installations that rely on this plugin for media embedding capabilities.
The core technical flaw resides in the PDF Widget URL handling mechanism where insufficient input sanitization and output escaping occur within the plugin's codebase. When users configure the PDF widget through the WordPress admin interface, they can specify URLs pointing to external PDF documents or local files stored within the WordPress environment. The vulnerability manifests when these user-supplied URL parameters are not properly validated or escaped before being rendered in HTML output contexts. This creates an opportunity for malicious actors to inject malicious JavaScript code that will execute whenever pages containing the compromised widget are accessed by other users.
Authenticated attackers with contributor-level permissions or higher can exploit this vulnerability by crafting malicious URLs containing embedded script tags or other XSS payloads within the PDF widget configuration fields. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that once a malicious URL is saved in the widget configuration, it remains persistent and will execute automatically whenever any user views pages containing that widget, regardless of whether they have administrative privileges. This creates a particularly dangerous scenario where legitimate content creators can unknowingly become vectors for XSS attacks against their own site visitors.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it provides attackers with potential access to user sessions and sensitive information within the WordPress environment. The stored nature of the XSS payload allows for persistent attack vectors that can be used to steal cookies, session tokens, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 "Cross-Site Scripting" which categorizes insecure input handling as a primary contributing factor to XSS vulnerabilities. From an ATT&CK framework perspective, this represents a privilege escalation and persistence technique where attackers leverage existing permissions to establish ongoing access through malicious content injection.
Mitigation strategies should focus on immediate plugin updates to versions that address the sanitization and escaping issues in the PDF widget implementation. Site administrators must also consider implementing additional security measures such as input validation at multiple layers, output encoding for all user-supplied content, and regular security audits of plugin configurations. Network-level protections including web application firewalls can provide additional defense-in-depth measures, while monitoring systems should be deployed to detect unusual script injection patterns in WordPress environments. Organizations should also conduct thorough security reviews of all plugins that handle user input and implement principle of least privilege access controls to limit the impact of potential exploitation.