CVE-2024-38753 in Animated Rotating Words Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/02/2025
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Labib Ahmed Animated Rotating Words allows Cross Site Request Forgery.This issue affects Animated Rotating Words: from n/a through 5.6.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/16/2025
The CVE-2024-38753 vulnerability represents a critical cross-site request forgery flaw within the Animated Rotating Words plugin developed by Labib Ahmed. This vulnerability falls under the CWE-352 category, which specifically addresses cross-site request forgery conditions where attackers can trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions on web applications. The affected plugin version range extends from an unspecified initial version through 5.6, indicating a significant attack surface that could potentially impact numerous installations across different WordPress environments. The vulnerability manifests when the plugin fails to implement proper anti-CSRF measures, leaving authenticated users susceptible to malicious requests that originate from external domains or compromised websites.
The technical implementation of this CSRF vulnerability stems from the plugin's insufficient validation of request origins and lack of anti-CSRF tokens in critical user actions. When users navigate to malicious websites or click on compromised links while authenticated to a vulnerable WordPress site, attackers can exploit this weakness to perform unauthorized operations such as modifying plugin settings, deleting content, or altering user permissions without the user's knowledge or consent. The vulnerability operates by leveraging the browser's automatic inclusion of cookies and authentication credentials when making requests to the target domain, thereby bypassing the normal security boundaries that should protect against unauthorized access.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability poses significant risks to WordPress administrators and end-users who rely on the Animated Rotating Words plugin for their website functionality. Attackers can exploit this weakness to execute unauthorized modifications to website content, potentially leading to defacement, data corruption, or complete compromise of website integrity. The attack vector typically involves social engineering campaigns where users are directed to malicious websites that contain embedded CSRF payloads. The vulnerability can also facilitate more sophisticated attacks such as privilege escalation or account takeover scenarios, especially when combined with other exploitation techniques. The impact extends beyond simple content modification as it can compromise the entire WordPress administration interface and potentially lead to complete system compromise.
Security mitigations for CVE-2024-38753 should prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the CSRF implementation flaws. System administrators should implement comprehensive monitoring of plugin usage and ensure all WordPress installations maintain current versions with proper security patches. The implementation of Content Security Policy headers and proper anti-CSRF token validation mechanisms can provide additional defense layers against such attacks. Organizations should also conduct thorough security assessments of all installed plugins to identify similar vulnerabilities and establish robust incident response procedures for potential exploitation attempts. According to ATT&CK framework, this vulnerability maps to T1566.001 (Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment) and T1071.001 (Application Layer Protocol: Web Protocols) as attackers typically leverage these vectors to deliver CSRF payloads to target systems. Regular security audits and penetration testing should be conducted to identify and remediate similar weaknesses in web application frameworks and plugins.