The Pet Manager WordPress plugin is a highly useful tool designed for pet-related businesses and establishments (e.g., shelters, pet hotels) to manage and display pets available for adoption, sale, or similar purposes. Unfortunately, prior to version 1.4, this plugin contained a serious vulnerability that could allow high-privilege users, such as Contributors, to exploit Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) attacks. In this post, we will discuss the details of this vulnerability, a code snippet showcasing how it may be exploited, and links to original references.

CVE-2024-3918 Vulnerability Details

The Pet Manager WordPress plugin versions preceding 1.4 do not adequately sanitize and escape certain pet settings. As a consequence, a high privilege user can inject malicious scripts into the plugin's settings. When other users or visitors access the affected pages, the malicious script will be executed, potentially compromising their data, hijacking their accounts, or even affecting the entire website.

Exploit Code Snippet

The following code snippet represents an example of a malicious script that can be injected into the Pet Manager plugin (prior to version 1.4) to exploit the stored XSS vulnerability:

<script>
   // Your malicious code here
   alert('XSS Attack!');
</script>

This simplistic example demonstrates that the attacker would be able to inject arbitrary JavaScript code that will be run whenever users access the affected pages. In a real-world scenario, this could potentially lead to unauthorized account access, data exfiltration, or other harmful actions.

How to Protect Yourself

To mitigate this risk, it is strongly recommended to update the Pet Manager WordPress plugin to the latest version (1.4 or later). Updating will ensure that the plugin includes proper safeguards to sanitize and escape pet settings, thus preventing potential stored XSS attacks by high-privilege users.

Original References

For more information about the vulnerability and how it was discovered, you can refer to the following sources:

1. CVE Details: CVE-2024-3918
2. WordPress Plugin Security Advisory: Pet Manager Plugin - Stored Cross-Site Scripting
3. Exploit Database Report: Pet Manager WordPress Plugin Stored XSS

Conclusion

The Pet Manager WordPress plugin prior to version 1.4 exposes users to the risk of stored XSS attacks, specifically by high-privilege users such as Contributors. To protect your WordPress website and its users from potential threats, it is crucial to update the Pet Manager plugin to the latest version (1.4 or later) as soon as possible. Additionally, always stay informed about new vulnerabilities and apply security best practices to enhance the safety of your online presence.

Timeline

Published on: 05/23/2024 06:15:11 UTC
Last modified on: 05/24/2024 01:15:30 UTC