CVE-2024-37949 in Responsive Mobile Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 07/20/2024
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (XSS or 'Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in CyberChimps Responsive Mobile allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Responsive Mobile: from n/a through 1.15.1.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 03/17/2025
This vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in the CyberChimps Responsive Mobile plugin, specifically targeting the stored XSS variant that allows malicious actors to inject persistent malicious scripts into web pages. The issue stems from inadequate input sanitization during the web page generation process, where user-supplied data is not properly neutralized before being rendered in HTML contexts. This weakness creates an environment where attackers can store malicious payloads that execute in the context of other users' browsers when they view affected pages. The vulnerability affects all versions of the Responsive Mobile plugin up to and including version 1.15.1, indicating a widespread exposure across multiple iterations of the software. The improper neutralization of input during web page generation directly violates fundamental security principles that require all user-provided data to be treated as untrusted and properly escaped before being incorporated into dynamic content.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when an attacker submits malicious input through forms or other user input mechanisms within the plugin's functionality. This input is then stored in the application's database or storage system without proper sanitization. When other users access pages that render this stored data, the malicious script executes in their browser context, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The stored nature of this XSS vulnerability means that the malicious code persists and affects multiple users over time rather than requiring immediate interaction with a specific page. This characteristic significantly amplifies the impact and makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users interact with the same content management system.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution to encompass potential complete system compromise when combined with other attack vectors. An attacker could leverage this XSS flaw to steal administrator sessions, modify content, or redirect users to phishing sites that appear legitimate. The vulnerability creates opportunities for privilege escalation attacks where low-privilege users can gain elevated access through session manipulation. This type of weakness aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting vulnerabilities and represents a fundamental failure in input validation and output encoding practices. The ATT&CK framework categorizes this as a code injection technique under the broader category of command and control activities, where adversaries establish persistent access through malicious code execution.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate patching of the affected plugin to version 1.15.2 or later, which should contain the necessary input sanitization fixes. Administrators should implement comprehensive input validation at multiple layers including client-side and server-side processing to prevent malicious data from being stored. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers can provide additional defense-in-depth measures to prevent execution of unauthorized scripts even if the XSS vulnerability is exploited. Regular security audits and code reviews should be conducted to identify similar input handling issues across the entire application stack. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious input patterns that may indicate XSS attempts. The vulnerability demonstrates the critical importance of proper output encoding and input validation as fundamental security controls that must be implemented consistently throughout web applications to prevent such persistent security flaws from being exploited by threat actors.