CVE-2024-3582 in UnGallery Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/14/2024
The UnGallery WordPress plugin through 2.2.4 does not have CSRF check in some places, and is missing sanitisation as well as escaping, which could allow attackers to make logged in admin add Stored XSS payloads via a CSRF attack
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/31/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-3582 affects the UnGallery WordPress plugin version 2.2.4 and earlier, presenting a critical security risk that combines multiple dangerous flaws in a single attack vector. This vulnerability resides in the plugin's handling of administrative requests, specifically in areas where Cross-Site Request Forgery protection mechanisms are absent or insufficient. The flaw creates a dangerous condition where authenticated administrators can be tricked into executing malicious actions without their knowledge or consent, making it particularly severe in environments where administrative privileges are frequently used.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from the absence of proper Cross-Site Request Forgery tokens in the plugin's administrative interfaces. When administrators navigate to certain plugin pages or perform administrative actions, the system fails to validate that requests originate from legitimate administrative sessions rather than maliciously crafted requests. This omission directly violates security best practices and creates a pathway for attackers to exploit the trust relationship between the web application and authenticated users. The vulnerability is further compounded by the lack of input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms that should normally protect against cross-site scripting attacks.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple privilege escalation, as it enables attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code that persists in the plugin's storage mechanisms. When administrators perform legitimate administrative tasks, they unknowingly execute the attacker's malicious code, which can then be stored in the plugin's database or configuration files. This stored XSS payload can then be executed whenever other administrators or users access the affected pages, creating a persistent threat that can compromise entire WordPress installations. The vulnerability affects the plugin's core functionality and can lead to complete administrative takeover, data exfiltration, and unauthorized access to sensitive system information.
The exploitation of this vulnerability follows established attack patterns that align with the ATT&CK framework's privilege escalation and persistence techniques. Attackers can leverage this flaw by crafting malicious web pages or email attachments that, when visited by administrators, automatically submit requests to the vulnerable plugin endpoints. The lack of sanitization and escaping means that any input submitted through these vectors can be directly stored and executed, creating a persistent backdoor or data harvesting mechanism. This vulnerability also relates to CWE-352, which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery issues, and CWE-79, which covers Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities, demonstrating how multiple security weaknesses compound to create more severe threats.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate action from system administrators, including updating to the latest version of the UnGallery plugin where the CSRF protections and sanitization mechanisms have been properly implemented. Organizations should also implement additional security measures such as web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious request patterns, and regular security audits of WordPress plugins to ensure all components meet current security standards. The remediation process should include thorough testing of the updated plugin to ensure that all administrative functions properly validate requests and sanitize inputs before processing. Additionally, implementing role-based access controls and limiting administrative privileges to only essential personnel can help reduce the potential impact of successful exploitation attempts, while monitoring for unusual administrative activity can provide early detection of compromise.