CVE-2024-1746 in Testimonial Slider Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/15/2024
The Testimonial Slider WordPress plugin before 2.3.8 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 • 04/06/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-1746 affects the Testimonial Slider WordPress plugin version 2.3.7 and earlier, representing a critical security flaw that undermines the integrity of WordPress multisite environments. This issue stems from insufficient sanitization and escaping of user-provided input within the plugin's administrative settings, creating a pathway for persistent cross-site scripting attacks that can bypass standard security mechanisms.
The technical flaw manifests in the plugin's failure to properly sanitize and escape specific settings parameters, allowing malicious code to be stored within the WordPress database and subsequently executed whenever affected pages are rendered. This vulnerability specifically targets high-privilege users such as administrators who possess the capability to modify plugin settings, though the impact extends beyond individual user sessions due to the persistent nature of stored XSS attacks. The flaw remains particularly dangerous in multisite configurations where the unfiltered_html capability is typically restricted to prevent arbitrary code execution across networked installations.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant as it enables attackers with administrative privileges to inject malicious scripts that can persistently compromise user sessions, steal sensitive information, manipulate content, or redirect users to malicious websites. The stored nature of the XSS payload means that the attack vector remains active until the malicious code is manually removed from the plugin settings, potentially affecting all users who access pages containing the compromised testimonial slider content. This vulnerability directly maps to CWE-79 which classifies cross-site scripting flaws, and aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through malicious content.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate plugin updates to version 2.3.8 or later, which addresses the sanitization deficiencies in the affected code. Administrators should also implement additional security measures including regular monitoring of plugin settings for unauthorized modifications, restricting administrative privileges to only essential personnel, and maintaining comprehensive backup procedures to quickly restore compromised installations. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls and content security policies can provide additional defense-in-depth measures, though the primary remediation must focus on patching the vulnerable plugin to ensure proper input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms are in place.