CVE-2024-37511 Overview
CVE-2024-37511 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability [CWE-352] in the Swift Performance Lite WordPress plugin developed by swte. The flaw affects all versions of swift-performance-lite up to and including 2.3.6.20. An attacker can trick an authenticated administrator into submitting a forged request that performs unintended state-changing actions on the WordPress site. Exploitation requires user interaction, typically luring a logged-in user to visit a malicious page. The vulnerability carries a limited integrity impact and does not disclose data or affect availability directly.
Critical Impact
An authenticated administrator visiting an attacker-controlled page can be coerced into performing unauthorized plugin actions, potentially altering caching or performance configuration on affected WordPress sites.
Affected Products
- Swift Performance Lite WordPress plugin (swift-performance-lite)
- All versions from n/a through 2.3.6.20
- WordPress installations with the vulnerable plugin activated
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-01-02 - CVE-2024-37511 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-37511
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability stems from missing or improperly implemented CSRF protection on one or more request handlers within the Swift Performance Lite plugin. WordPress provides nonce-based verification through functions such as wp_verify_nonce() and check_admin_referer(), but the affected handlers do not validate these tokens correctly. An attacker crafts a malicious HTML page or link containing a forged request targeting a vulnerable plugin endpoint. When an authenticated administrator visits the attacker's page, the browser automatically transmits session cookies with the forged request. The plugin processes the request as legitimate, allowing state changes without the administrator's intent. The impact is bounded to integrity effects on plugin configuration or cache operations, with no direct confidentiality or availability loss.
Root Cause
The root cause is the absence of anti-CSRF token validation on privileged plugin endpoints. Requests are processed based solely on the presence of a valid authenticated session cookie, which browsers include automatically in cross-origin requests unless additional protections such as SameSite cookie attributes intervene.
Attack Vector
Exploitation occurs over the network and requires user interaction. The attacker hosts a page containing an auto-submitting form or image tag targeting a vulnerable endpoint on the victim's WordPress site. When an authenticated administrator loads the page, the browser sends the forged request with their session credentials. Refer to the Patchstack CSRF Vulnerability Analysis for technical details on the affected request handler.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-37511
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected changes to Swift Performance Lite plugin settings or cache configuration without a corresponding administrator action log
- HTTP POST or GET requests to plugin admin endpoints containing a Referer header pointing to an external, untrusted domain
- Administrator-initiated requests to plugin endpoints lacking a valid _wpnonce parameter
Detection Strategies
- Inspect web server access logs for requests to wp-admin/admin.php or plugin-specific endpoints with mismatched or absent Origin and Referer headers
- Correlate WordPress audit-log entries with browser session activity to identify configuration changes occurring outside normal administrative workflows
- Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule to flag state-changing requests to plugin endpoints missing anti-CSRF tokens
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable a WordPress activity-logging plugin to record all administrative configuration changes
- Alert on plugin settings modifications occurring during off-hours or from unusual client IP addresses
- Monitor outbound browser telemetry from administrator workstations for interactions with untrusted domains preceding plugin configuration changes
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-37511
Immediate Actions Required
- Update Swift Performance Lite to a version later than 2.3.6.20 as soon as the vendor publishes a patched release
- Restrict WordPress administrator access to trusted networks or require VPN connectivity for the wp-admin interface
- Instruct administrators to log out of WordPress sessions when not actively managing the site
Patch Information
Consult the Patchstack advisory for the latest fixed version and vendor guidance. If no patched version is available, consider deactivating and removing the plugin until a fix is released.
Workarounds
- Deploy a WAF with rules that enforce Origin and Referer header validation on state-changing requests to wp-admin endpoints
- Configure session cookies with SameSite=Lax or SameSite=Strict attributes to reduce cross-site request risk
- Limit administrator account usage to dedicated browsers or profiles that do not visit untrusted websites
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.