CVE-2024-38753: Animated Rotating Words CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2024-38753 Overview

CVE-2024-38753 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Labib Ahmed Animated Rotating Words WordPress plugin (css3-rotating-words). The flaw affects all versions up to and including 5.6. An attacker can trick an authenticated WordPress user into submitting a forged request that performs plugin actions without their consent. The vulnerability is categorized under [CWE-352] and requires user interaction to succeed. Exploitation typically involves luring a privileged user to a malicious page that issues state-changing requests to a vulnerable WordPress site.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows attackers to trigger unauthorized plugin actions in the context of an authenticated WordPress user, potentially modifying plugin settings without consent.

Affected Products

Labib Ahmed Animated Rotating Words WordPress plugin (css3-rotating-words)
All versions from n/a through 5.6
WordPress sites using the vulnerable plugin

Discovery Timeline

2025-01-02 - CVE-2024-38753 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-38753

Vulnerability Analysis

The Animated Rotating Words plugin exposes state-changing endpoints without adequate CSRF protection. WordPress plugins are expected to validate a nonce using wp_verify_nonce() or check_admin_referer() before executing privileged actions. This plugin fails to enforce that validation on affected endpoints through version 5.6. An attacker who convinces an authenticated administrator to visit an attacker-controlled page can trigger requests that the WordPress site processes as legitimate. Impact is limited to integrity, with no direct confidentiality or availability loss based on the CVSS vector.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or improperly implemented anti-CSRF token verification on plugin request handlers. Without a nonce check, the WordPress site cannot distinguish between a legitimate administrator action and a forged cross-origin submission. This maps directly to [CWE-352] Cross-Site Request Forgery.

Attack Vector

Exploitation requires the target to have an active authenticated session on the vulnerable WordPress site. The attacker hosts a page containing an auto-submitting form or image tag that issues a request to the plugin endpoint. When the victim loads the page, the browser attaches the session cookies and the request executes with the victim's privileges. See the Patchstack CSRF Vulnerability Report for technical context.

No verified exploit code is publicly available for this vulnerability.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-38753

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected changes to Animated Rotating Words plugin settings or content
HTTP POST requests to plugin endpoints originating from external Referer headers
Administrator sessions performing plugin actions without corresponding admin panel navigation
Web server logs showing plugin requests without a preceding admin dashboard visit

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for requests to css3-rotating-words endpoints with cross-origin Referer values
Correlate plugin configuration changes with authenticated user activity timelines
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to flag state-changing plugin requests missing valid nonce parameters
Audit WordPress plugin versions across the fleet to identify installations at or below version 5.6

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging to record plugin setting modifications and their originating requests
Monitor outbound admin sessions for unusual request patterns following email or link clicks
Track plugin file and database changes through file integrity monitoring

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-38753

Immediate Actions Required

Identify all WordPress sites running the Animated Rotating Words plugin at version 5.6 or below
Deactivate the plugin until a patched version is confirmed installed
Instruct administrators to log out of WordPress sessions before browsing untrusted sites
Review recent plugin configuration changes for signs of unauthorized modification

Patch Information

No fixed version is listed in the CVE record at the time of publication. Consult the Patchstack CSRF Vulnerability Report for the latest vendor remediation status. If no patch is available, replace the plugin with a maintained alternative.

Workarounds

Remove or deactivate the css3-rotating-words plugin until a patched release is available
Deploy a WAF rule that blocks POST requests to plugin endpoints lacking a valid WordPress nonce
Enforce SameSite=Lax or SameSite=Strict on WordPress session cookies to reduce cross-site request delivery
Require administrators to use dedicated browser profiles for WordPress administration

bash

# Configuration example: deactivate the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate css3-rotating-words
wp plugin delete css3-rotating-words