CVE-2024-32546 in Tax Rate Upload Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 04/17/2024
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Adam Bowen Tax Rate Upload allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Tax Rate Upload: from n/a through 2.4.5.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/05/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-32546 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Adam Bowen Tax Rate Upload plugin, specifically impacting versions ranging from n/a through 2.4.5. This weakness falls under the category of improper input neutralization during web page generation, creating a significant security risk for users who interact with the affected software. The vulnerability manifests as a reflected cross-site scripting attack, where malicious input is reflected back to users through web pages without proper sanitization or encoding mechanisms. This type of vulnerability enables attackers to inject malicious scripts into web pages viewed by other users, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or arbitrary code execution within the victim's browser context.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate validation and sanitization of user-supplied input parameters that are subsequently rendered in web page output. When the Tax Rate Upload plugin processes user input through reflected parameters, it fails to properly escape or encode special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code. This flaw directly maps to CWE-79, which defines Cross-Site Scripting as a weakness where untrusted data is sent to a web browser without proper validation or encoding, allowing malicious scripts to execute in the victim's browser. The reflected nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious payload must be crafted to be included in a URL parameter or form field, which is then reflected back to the user's browser when the page is rendered.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, creating a comprehensive attack surface that could be exploited by threat actors to compromise user sessions and data integrity. Attackers can craft malicious URLs containing encoded script payloads that, when clicked by authenticated users, will execute within the context of the vulnerable application. This creates opportunities for session manipulation, data exfiltration, and potential privilege escalation depending on the user's access level within the application. The vulnerability affects the web application's ability to maintain secure user sessions and can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive tax rate information or financial data that the plugin manages. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1531 - Establish and Maintain Infrastructure, as attackers can leverage reflected XSS to establish persistent access or create malicious payloads that can be stored and executed across multiple user sessions.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-32546 should prioritize immediate patching of the affected plugin to version 2.4.6 or later, which contains the necessary input validation and output encoding fixes. Organizations should implement comprehensive input sanitization measures, including the use of proper HTML escaping functions and content security policies to prevent script execution in web responses. Additionally, implementing proper parameter validation and ensuring all user-supplied input is treated as untrusted data before processing will significantly reduce the risk of exploitation. Security teams should also conduct thorough code reviews focusing on input handling and output encoding practices, particularly for web applications that process user data. The implementation of web application firewalls and runtime application self-protection mechanisms can provide additional layers of defense against reflected XSS attacks. Regular security assessments and vulnerability scanning should be conducted to identify similar weaknesses in other application components that may present comparable risks to the organization's overall security posture.