CVE-2024-3941 in reCAPTCHA Jetpack Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/14/2024
The reCAPTCHA Jetpack WordPress plugin through 0.2.2 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 CVE-2024-3941 vulnerability affects the reCAPTCHA Jetpack WordPress plugin version 0.2.2 and earlier, presenting a critical security risk that combines multiple dangerous flaws. This vulnerability exists due to insufficient cross-site request forgery protection mechanisms within the plugin's administrative interfaces, creating an exploitable attack vector that allows malicious actors to manipulate logged-in administrators through carefully crafted requests.
The technical flaw manifests through the absence of proper CSRF tokens in several administrative endpoints of the plugin, combined with inadequate input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms. This combination creates a perfect storm for attackers to execute stored cross-site scripting attacks by tricking administrators into executing malicious JavaScript code through seemingly legitimate administrative actions. The vulnerability operates at the intersection of CWE-352, which addresses cross-site request forgery, and CWE-79, which covers cross-site scripting, making it particularly dangerous as it enables both authentication bypass and code execution.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe for WordPress administrators who use the affected plugin. Attackers can leverage this flaw to inject malicious JavaScript payloads that persist in the plugin's configuration or user data storage, allowing them to execute arbitrary code in the context of the administrator's browser session. This enables attackers to perform actions such as modifying plugin settings, accessing sensitive configuration data, stealing session cookies, or even taking full control of the WordPress administration interface. The stored nature of the XSS payload means that once injected, the malicious code will execute every time an administrator views the affected pages, creating a persistent backdoor.
The vulnerability aligns with several ATT&CK techniques including T1547.001 for Registry Run Keys / Startup Folder and T1059 for Command and Scripting Interpreter, as attackers can use the XSS payload to establish persistent access or execute commands through the compromised administrative session. The lack of proper sanitization and escaping mechanisms directly violates security best practices established by the OWASP Top Ten project, specifically addressing the prevention of XSS vulnerabilities. Organizations using the affected plugin version face immediate risk of compromise, as the vulnerability requires no special privileges beyond access to a legitimate administrative session.
Mitigation strategies should include immediate upgrading to a patched version of the reCAPTCHA Jetpack plugin, if available, or implementing temporary workarounds such as disabling the affected plugin functionality until a proper update can be deployed. Security administrators should also implement network-level protections including web application firewalls that can detect and block suspicious CSRF patterns, and conduct thorough security audits of all installed plugins to identify similar vulnerabilities. Regular security monitoring should be implemented to detect any unauthorized changes to plugin configurations or suspicious administrative activities that might indicate exploitation attempts. Additionally, administrators should ensure proper input validation and output escaping mechanisms are in place across all plugin interfaces and consider implementing additional authentication controls such as two-factor authentication to reduce the impact of potential credential compromise.