CVE-2024-49630 in WP Education Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/20/2024
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in DevItems WP Education wp-education allows Stored XSS.This issue affects WP Education: from n/a through <= 1.2.8.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/06/2026
This vulnerability represents a critical cross-site scripting flaw in the DevItems WP Education plugin for WordPress, specifically impacting versions up to and including 1.2.8. The issue stems from improper input sanitization during web page generation processes, creating a persistent security weakness that allows attackers to inject malicious scripts into the application's output. The vulnerability falls under the CWE-79 category of Cross-Site Scripting, which is classified as a stored XSS attack because the malicious payloads are permanently stored within the application's database and executed whenever affected pages are accessed by unsuspecting users. This type of vulnerability is particularly dangerous as it can persist long after the initial injection and affects all users who view the compromised content without proper input validation.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs when malicious input is accepted through user-facing forms or administrative interfaces within the wp-education plugin and subsequently stored without adequate sanitization or encoding. When other users access pages that display this stored content, their browsers execute the injected malicious scripts, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The attack vector typically involves crafting specially formatted input that includes script tags or other malicious code within fields that should only accept legitimate content. This weakness in the input handling process violates fundamental security principles of defense in depth and input validation, as the application fails to properly escape or filter user-supplied data before rendering it in web pages.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution to encompass potential complete compromise of user sessions and data integrity. Attackers can leverage this stored XSS to steal cookies, modify page content, redirect users to phishing sites, or even perform actions on behalf of authenticated users through session manipulation. The vulnerability affects any user who has access to the wp-education plugin's administrative or frontend interfaces, making it particularly concerning for educational platforms where multiple users may contribute content. The persistence of stored XSS attacks means that once exploited, the malicious code continues to execute until manually removed from the database, potentially affecting all users who interact with the compromised plugin functionality.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability should include immediate patching of the wp-education plugin to version 1.2.9 or later, which addresses the input sanitization issues. Organizations should implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding mechanisms throughout the application to prevent similar issues in the future. The principle of least privilege should be enforced by limiting administrative access and regularly auditing user permissions. Additionally, implementing Content Security Policy headers can provide an additional layer of protection against XSS attacks by restricting script execution. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in user input and content modifications. This vulnerability aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 for initial access through web application attacks and T1071.001 for application layer protocol usage. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and regular security assessments to identify and remediate similar input validation weaknesses across their WordPress installations. The remediation process should include thorough testing of patched versions to ensure that the XSS vulnerability has been properly addressed without introducing new functionality issues.