CVE-2024-21752 in Ajax Search Lite Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 02/29/2024
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Ernest Marcinko Ajax Search Lite allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Ajax Search Lite: from n/a through 4.11.4.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/18/2025
This cross-site request forgery vulnerability in the Ajax Search Lite plugin for WordPress represents a critical security flaw that combines CSRF and reflected cross-site scripting attack vectors. The vulnerability exists within the plugin's handling of user input and request processing mechanisms, creating an environment where malicious actors can exploit the lack of proper validation and sanitization controls. The affected version range spans from an unspecified initial version through 4.11.4, indicating this weakness has persisted across multiple iterations of the plugin's development cycle. The vulnerability's classification as a combined CSRF and reflected XSS issue demonstrates how a single security gap can enable multiple attack vectors, amplifying the potential impact on affected systems.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from insufficient protection mechanisms that should validate the origin of requests and sanitize user-supplied data before processing. When users interact with the search functionality, the plugin fails to properly verify request authenticity through anti-CSRF tokens or similar protective measures while simultaneously not adequately filtering or escaping input parameters that could be exploited for reflected XSS attacks. This dual nature of the vulnerability means that an attacker could potentially leverage CSRF to execute malicious requests while simultaneously using reflected XSS to inject malicious scripts that execute in the context of other users' browsers. The attack surface expands significantly when considering that the search functionality typically handles user input from multiple sources, including search terms, filter parameters, and other dynamic content elements.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement scenarios, as it creates opportunities for more sophisticated attacks such as session hijacking, privilege escalation, and persistent malicious code execution within affected WordPress environments. Attackers could potentially manipulate search results to include malicious payloads that would be reflected back to other users, creating a chain reaction of infections across the user base. The vulnerability particularly affects WordPress installations where the Ajax Search Lite plugin is actively used, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns. Organizations running these vulnerable versions face increased risk of unauthorized administrative access, data breaches, and potential compromise of entire WordPress installations through the exploitation of this single vulnerability.
Security mitigations for this vulnerability should focus on immediate plugin updates to versions that address the CSRF and XSS protection gaps, while also implementing additional defensive measures such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns. The implementation of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms, input validation, and output sanitization should be prioritized to prevent the exploitation of similar vulnerabilities in the future. Organizations should also conduct comprehensive security assessments of their WordPress installations to identify other potential CSRF and XSS vulnerabilities that may exist within their plugin ecosystem. According to CWE guidelines, this vulnerability relates to CWE-352 for CSRF and CWE-79 for XSS, while the ATT&CK framework would classify this under T1566 for initial access through web application attacks and T1059 for command and scripting interpreter usage. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of maintaining up-to-date security practices and proper input validation mechanisms in web applications to prevent exploitation of combined attack vectors.