CVE-2024-49249: SMSA Shipping Path Traversal Flaw

CVE-2024-49249 Overview

CVE-2024-49249 is a path traversal vulnerability in the SMSA Express smsa-shipping-official WordPress plugin. The flaw enables remote attackers to traverse directories using .../...// style sequences and delete arbitrary files on the server. All plugin versions up to and including 2.3 are affected. The weakness is classified under CWE-35: Path Traversal: '.../...//'.

Critical Impact
Unauthenticated attackers can delete arbitrary files on WordPress sites running the SMSA Shipping plugin, leading to site compromise or denial of service when critical files such as wp-config.php are removed.

Affected Products

SMSA Express SMSA Shipping (smsa-shipping-official) WordPress plugin
All versions from n/a through 2.3
WordPress sites using the SMSA Shipping integration for Saudi Arabia logistics

Discovery Timeline

2025-01-07 - CVE-2024-49249 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-49249

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in file handling logic within the SMSA Shipping WordPress plugin. Attacker-controlled input flows into a file operation without proper canonicalization of path components. The plugin fails to filter sequences such as .../...//, which collapse into ../ after partial sanitization. This pattern bypasses naive replace-based filters that strip only ../ literals.

Successful exploitation allows arbitrary file deletion outside the plugin's intended directory scope. Attackers can remove wp-config.php, plugin files, or core WordPress files. Deleting wp-config.php often triggers the WordPress installation flow, which an attacker can hijack to take over the site.

The issue is exploitable over the network without authentication or user interaction, according to the CVSS vector. Confidentiality and integrity are not directly impacted, but availability impact is high.

Root Cause

The root cause is improper neutralization of path traversal sequences in user-supplied filename or path parameters. The plugin likely applies a single-pass sanitization that removes ../ but leaves .../...// intact. After string normalization by the underlying filesystem APIs, these residual sequences resolve to parent directory references.

Attack Vector

A remote attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to a vulnerable plugin endpoint, supplying a path parameter containing .../...// sequences pointing to a target file. The plugin resolves the path relative to its working directory and invokes a deletion routine such as unlink(). Because the request requires no privileges, mass exploitation against exposed WordPress sites is feasible.

The vulnerability mechanism is documented in the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability advisory. No public proof-of-concept exploit code is currently available.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-49249

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP requests to SMSA Shipping plugin endpoints containing ..., .../, or ...// substrings in query or POST parameters
Unexpected absence of WordPress core files such as wp-config.php, index.php, or .htaccess
Sudden appearance of the WordPress installation wizard on a previously functional site
Web server error logs referencing missing files within /wp-content/plugins/ or the WordPress root

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for requests targeting smsa-shipping-official plugin paths with traversal-like parameter values
Apply web application firewall rules that flag encoded and unencoded .../...// patterns in request bodies and query strings
Monitor filesystem integrity on the WordPress installation directory and alert on deletions of core or plugin files

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress file integrity monitoring with tools such as Wordfence or wp-cli checksum verification
Forward web server logs to a central SIEM and build identifications for traversal sequences against plugin endpoints
Track plugin inventory across managed WordPress sites and alert when smsa-shipping-official version <= 2.3 is detected

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-49249

Immediate Actions Required

Audit all WordPress installations for the presence of the smsa-shipping-official plugin and identify versions at or below 2.3
Deactivate and remove the plugin if no patched version is available or if the integration is not actively used
Restore deleted files from backups and reset WordPress secrets if wp-config.php was tampered with
Place a web application firewall in front of affected WordPress sites and block requests containing .../...// patterns

Patch Information

Refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability advisory for the latest vendor remediation status. Upgrade to a version newer than 2.3 once released by SMSA Express. Until a fixed version is confirmed, removal of the plugin is the recommended action.

Workarounds

Restrict access to the plugin's PHP endpoints using web server rules or an authentication proxy
Apply WAF signatures that decode URL-encoded payloads and block traversal sequences including ....//, .../...//, and ..%2f
Enforce least-privilege filesystem permissions so the PHP process cannot delete files outside the plugin directory

bash

# Example Nginx rule to block path traversal patterns against the plugin
location ~* /wp-content/plugins/smsa-shipping-official/ {
    if ($args ~* "(\.{2,}/|\.{3,}/|%2e%2e)") {
        return 403;
    }
}