CVE-2024-2857 in Simple Buttons Creator Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/15/2024
The Simple Buttons Creator WordPress plugin through 1.04 does not have any authorisation as well as CSRF in its add button function, allowing unauthenticated users to call them either directly or via CSRF attacks. Furthermore, due to the lack of sanitisation and escaping, it could also allow them to perform Stored Cross-Site Scripting attacks against logged in admins.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/06/2025
The Simple Buttons Creator WordPress plugin version 1.04 contains critical security vulnerabilities that expose WordPress sites to unauthorized manipulation and cross-site scripting attacks. This vulnerability affects the plugin's add button function which lacks proper authorization controls and cross-site request forgery protection mechanisms. The absence of authentication checks means that any user, whether authenticated or not, can access and execute the button creation functionality without proper verification. This represents a fundamental flaw in the plugin's security architecture and aligns with CWE-863, which addresses incorrect authorization issues where an actor is able to perform actions they should not be permitted to execute.
The vulnerability extends beyond simple unauthorized access due to the complete absence of input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms within the plugin's codebase. When unauthenticated users can submit data through the vulnerable function, they can inject malicious scripts that get stored within the WordPress database. These stored scripts then execute whenever administrators view the affected pages, creating a persistent cross-site scripting vector that targets logged-in admin users. This scenario enables attackers to hijack admin sessions, steal sensitive information, or perform administrative actions on behalf of legitimate users. The combination of unauthorized access and stored XSS creates a particularly dangerous attack surface that can escalate to full system compromise.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for WordPress administrators who rely on the Simple Buttons Creator plugin for their website functionality. Attackers can exploit this weakness to inject malicious JavaScript code that executes in the context of admin browsers, potentially leading to complete account takeover, data exfiltration, or malicious content injection across the entire website. The CSRF aspect of the vulnerability means that attackers can craft malicious pages or emails that trick administrators into performing unwanted actions without their knowledge, making the attack vector particularly insidious. This vulnerability directly maps to ATT&CK technique T1566.001 which covers credential harvesting through social engineering and web-based attacks.
Organizations using this plugin should immediately implement mitigations including disabling the vulnerable plugin functionality, implementing proper input validation and output escaping measures, and ensuring that all WordPress plugins undergo security review before deployment. The lack of authorization controls in the plugin demonstrates a failure in proper security testing and code review processes that should be enforced according to industry standards. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar issues in other plugins and themes. Administrators should also implement additional security layers such as web application firewalls and monitoring solutions to detect and prevent exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the critical importance of proper security practices in plugin development and the necessity of following secure coding guidelines to prevent such widespread access control failures.