CVE-2024-27194 in Fontific Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 03/16/2024
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Andrei Ivasiuc Fontific | Google Fonts allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Fontific | Google Fonts: from n/a through 0.1.6.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/16/2024
This vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in the Fontific | Google Fonts WordPress plugin that combines cross-site request forgery with stored cross-site scripting capabilities. The vulnerability exists within the plugin's handling of user input and form submissions, creating a dangerous attack vector that can persistently compromise user sessions and execute malicious code within the target environment. The affected version range indicates that all versions up to and including 0.1.6 are vulnerable, suggesting this represents a long-standing issue that has not been properly addressed in the plugin's security architecture.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation and sanitization of user-supplied data within the plugin's administrative interfaces. When users interact with the plugin's settings or configuration forms, the application fails to properly implement anti-CSRF tokens or other protective mechanisms that would prevent unauthorized requests from being executed on behalf of authenticated users. This weakness allows attackers to craft malicious requests that, when executed by authenticated administrators, can store malicious scripts within the application's database or configuration files. The stored XSS component emerges when these malicious payloads are subsequently rendered in administrative interfaces or displayed to users, enabling attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript code within the context of the victim's browser session.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it provides attackers with persistent access to administrative functions and user data. Once exploited, the stored XSS payload can be used to steal session cookies, modify plugin configurations, inject malicious content into web pages, or redirect users to phishing sites. The combination of CSRF and XSS creates a particularly dangerous scenario where attackers can establish long-term presence within the target system without requiring repeated exploitation attempts. This vulnerability directly violates security principles outlined in CWE-352 for CSRF and CWE-79 for XSS, representing a failure to implement proper input validation, output encoding, and request verification mechanisms. The attack surface is particularly concerning given that this affects a widely used WordPress plugin, potentially exposing numerous websites to persistent compromise.
Mitigation strategies must address both the CSRF and XSS components of this vulnerability through comprehensive security hardening measures. Administrators should immediately update to the latest version of the Fontific | Google Fonts plugin where available, or implement temporary workarounds such as disabling the plugin until a secure version is released. The implementation of proper anti-CSRF token mechanisms, input validation, and output encoding should be enforced throughout the plugin's codebase. Security teams should also consider implementing web application firewalls with rules specifically designed to detect and block CSRF and XSS attack patterns, while monitoring for suspicious administrative activities that may indicate exploitation attempts. Organizations should conduct thorough security assessments of all installed plugins and themes to identify similar vulnerabilities, as this represents a common class of weakness that often goes undetected in third-party WordPress components. The vulnerability also highlights the importance of proper security testing during plugin development and the need for regular security audits of deployed web applications to prevent similar issues from persisting in production environments.