CVE-2024-51647 in Featured Posts Scroll Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 11/09/2024
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Chaser324 Featured Posts Scroll allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Featured Posts Scroll: from n/a through 1.25.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 02/28/2025
The CVE-2024-51647 vulnerability represents a critical security flaw in the Chaser324 Featured Posts Scroll WordPress plugin that demonstrates the dangerous intersection of cross-site request forgery and stored cross-site scripting attacks. This vulnerability exists within the plugin's handling of user input and request processing mechanisms, creating a pathway for attackers to execute malicious code within the context of authenticated users' browsers. The affected version range spans from unspecified initial versions through 1.25, indicating this flaw has persisted across multiple releases and likely represents a fundamental architectural weakness in the plugin's security implementation.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability occurs through a CSRF attack vector that manipulates the plugin's administrative functionality to store malicious JavaScript code within the WordPress database. When legitimate users access pages that display featured posts, the stored XSS payload executes in their browsers, potentially allowing attackers to steal session cookies, perform unauthorized actions, or redirect users to malicious sites. The vulnerability stems from insufficient validation and sanitization of user-supplied data within the plugin's admin interfaces, particularly in how it processes and stores post content or configuration parameters. This flaw directly maps to CWE-352, which defines Cross-Site Request Forgery vulnerabilities, and CWE-79, which addresses Cross-Site Scripting issues, creating a compound vulnerability that amplifies the attack surface.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or defacement, as it enables persistent malicious activities that can compromise entire WordPress installations. Attackers can leverage this vulnerability to establish backdoors, harvest user credentials, or deploy additional malware through the compromised browser sessions. The stored nature of the XSS payload means that the attack remains active even after the initial exploitation attempt, creating a persistent threat that continues to affect all users who view affected content. This vulnerability particularly impacts WordPress sites using the Featured Posts Scroll plugin, where administrators may have elevated privileges, making the potential damage significantly greater than in standard user contexts.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2024-51647 must prioritize immediate plugin updates to versions that address the CSRF and XSS flaws, while also implementing additional security controls. Organizations should deploy Content Security Policy headers to limit script execution, implement proper input validation and output encoding mechanisms, and conduct thorough security audits of all installed plugins. The vulnerability highlights the importance of maintaining up-to-date software versions and demonstrates how seemingly isolated security flaws can compound to create more severe threats. Security teams should monitor for exploitation attempts through web application firewalls and log analysis, while also reviewing plugin permissions and access controls to minimize potential damage from compromised administrative accounts. This vulnerability serves as a reminder of the critical need for comprehensive security testing and the implementation of defense-in-depth strategies that protect against multiple attack vectors simultaneously.