CVE-2024-8043 in Vikinghammer Tweet Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 09/17/2024
The Vikinghammer Tweet WordPress plugin through 0.2.4 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 • 03/12/2025
The Vikinghammer Tweet WordPress plugin version 0.2.4 and earlier contains critical security vulnerabilities that create significant risks for WordPress administrators. This vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to implement proper Cross-Site Request Forgery protection mechanisms in multiple administrative endpoints. The absence of CSRF tokens allows attackers to craft malicious requests that can be executed by authenticated administrators without their knowledge or consent. The vulnerability is particularly dangerous because it combines multiple security flaws into a single attack vector that can lead to persistent cross-site scripting attacks.
The technical implementation flaw lies in the plugin's lack of input validation and output sanitization practices. Attackers can exploit this by tricking logged-in administrators into visiting malicious websites or clicking on compromised links that submit requests to the vulnerable plugin endpoints. Without proper CSRF protection, these requests appear legitimate to the WordPress system since the user is already authenticated. The missing sanitization and escaping mechanisms mean that any data submitted through these vulnerable endpoints is directly stored and executed without proper security filtering, creating ideal conditions for stored XSS attacks. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-352 which specifically addresses Cross-Site Request Forgery weaknesses and CWE-79 which covers Cross-Site Scripting vulnerabilities.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe as it allows attackers to establish persistent malicious code execution within the WordPress administrative environment. Once successful, attackers can inject malicious JavaScript payloads that will execute whenever administrators view affected pages or perform administrative tasks. These stored XSS payloads can be used to steal administrator session cookies, redirect users to malicious sites, modify content, or perform actions on behalf of the administrator. The attack requires only that an administrator visits a malicious page or clicks on compromised content, making it particularly effective in phishing campaigns or compromised website scenarios. This vulnerability essentially provides attackers with a backdoor into the WordPress admin interface that can be exploited repeatedly.
Organizations should immediately update to the latest version of the Vikinghammer Tweet plugin if available, or implement temporary mitigations such as disabling the plugin entirely until a secure version is available. Security measures should include implementing proper CSRF protection mechanisms, ensuring all user inputs are properly sanitized and escaped before storage, and monitoring for suspicious administrative activities. The vulnerability demonstrates the importance of following secure coding practices as outlined in the OWASP Top Ten and MITRE ATT&CK framework, specifically addressing techniques related to credential access and command execution. Administrators should also consider implementing additional security layers such as web application firewalls and monitoring for unusual administrative activities to detect potential exploitation attempts.