CVE-2024-34564 in Counter Up Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/08/2024
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in LogicHunt Inc. Counter Up allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Counter Up: from n/a through 2.2.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/31/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-34564 represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw within the Counter Up plugin developed by LogicHunt Inc. This stored XSS vulnerability occurs during the web page generation process when user input is improperly sanitized or neutralized before being rendered back to users. The vulnerability specifically impacts versions of the Counter Up plugin ranging from the initial release through version 2.2.1, indicating a widespread issue affecting multiple iterations of the software. The flaw allows attackers to inject malicious scripts that persist in the application's database and execute whenever affected pages are loaded, making it particularly dangerous for web applications that store user-generated content.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input validation and output encoding mechanisms within the Counter Up plugin's codebase. When users submit data through forms or other interactive elements within the plugin, the application fails to properly sanitize or escape special characters that could be interpreted as HTML or JavaScript code. This improper neutralization creates an environment where malicious actors can embed script tags, event handlers, or other harmful code sequences that are then stored in the database and executed in the context of other users' browsers. The stored nature of this XSS vulnerability means that the malicious code persists even after the initial injection, making it particularly insidious as it can affect multiple users over extended periods without requiring repeated exploitation attempts.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it provides attackers with significant capabilities to compromise user sessions and execute malicious activities within the targeted web application. An attacker could leverage this vulnerability to steal cookies, session tokens, or other sensitive authentication data from users who visit affected pages. The vulnerability also enables more sophisticated attacks such as credential harvesting, session hijacking, or redirection to malicious sites that could lead to further compromise of the affected system or its users. Given that this is a stored XSS vulnerability, the attack surface is particularly broad as it can affect any user who interacts with content that has been previously injected by an attacker, potentially compromising thousands of users if the application is widely used.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should focus on immediate patching of the affected Counter Up plugin to version 2.2.2 or later, as this would address the root cause of the input sanitization failure. Organizations should also implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding measures at multiple layers of their application architecture, ensuring that all user-supplied data is properly escaped before being stored or rendered back to users. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide an additional defensive layer against XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts can be loaded and executed. Security practitioners should also consider implementing web application firewalls that can detect and block known XSS attack patterns, while conducting regular security assessments to identify similar vulnerabilities in other components of the application stack. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege and proper input validation as outlined in various cybersecurity frameworks including those referenced in the MITRE ATT&CK framework under the execution and credential access tactics.