CVE-2024-51659 Overview
CVE-2024-51659 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the GeekRMX Twitter @Anywhere Plus WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all versions of twitter-anywhere-plus up to and including 2.0. An attacker can chain the CSRF condition with stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) to inject persistent JavaScript into the WordPress site. Exploitation requires an authenticated administrator to interact with an attacker-controlled page or link. The vulnerability is tracked under [CWE-352] (Cross-Site Request Forgery).
Critical Impact
A successful attack stores attacker-controlled JavaScript in the WordPress site, enabling session theft, administrative action hijacking, and downstream compromise of site visitors.
Affected Products
- GeekRMX Twitter @Anywhere Plus (twitter-anywhere-plus) WordPress plugin
- All versions from unspecified initial release through 2.0
- WordPress sites with the plugin installed and activated
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-11-14 - CVE-2024-51659 published to NVD
- 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-51659
Vulnerability Analysis
The Twitter @Anywhere Plus plugin exposes administrative actions that lack anti-CSRF token validation. Requests that modify plugin settings or stored content do not verify a WordPress nonce or equivalent origin check. An attacker who lures an authenticated administrator to a malicious page can submit forged requests that the WordPress backend processes as legitimate.
Because the same request paths also fail to sanitize or encode supplied input before persisting it, attacker-supplied payloads are stored in the database. The stored payload is later rendered in pages served by the plugin, producing stored XSS executed in the browser of any user viewing the affected content.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing CSRF protection [CWE-352] on plugin state-changing endpoints, combined with insufficient output encoding of stored values. WordPress provides wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() to mitigate CSRF, but these controls are not enforced on the vulnerable handlers. The absence of contextual escaping when rendering stored fields turns the CSRF into a stored XSS sink.
Attack Vector
The attack requires network access to the target WordPress instance and user interaction from an authenticated administrator. The attacker hosts a crafted HTML page containing a hidden form or fetch request targeting the vulnerable plugin endpoint. When the administrator visits the page while logged in, the browser submits the request with valid session cookies. The payload is stored and later executed in the browser context of subsequent visitors, including other administrators.
No public proof-of-concept exploit is referenced in the available data. Technical details are published in the Patchstack Vulnerability Report.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-51659
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers, or encoded JavaScript stored within Twitter @Anywhere Plus configuration fields or post content
- Outbound browser requests from administrator sessions to unfamiliar domains after visiting external pages
- New or modified WordPress administrator accounts created without an audit trail
- HTTP POST requests to plugin admin endpoints lacking the _wpnonce parameter in access logs
Detection Strategies
- Inspect the wp_options table and plugin-managed post meta for stored HTML or JavaScript content that should be plain text
- Review web server access logs for cross-origin Referer headers on requests targeting wp-admin endpoints associated with the plugin
- Run static scans against the installed plugin codebase to confirm whether the twitter-anywhere-plus directory is present and at version 2.0 or earlier
Monitoring Recommendations
- Alert on POST requests to WordPress admin handlers that arrive with external Referer values or omit nonce parameters
- Monitor Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports for inline script execution on administrative pages
- Track plugin inventory and version drift across all WordPress installations
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-51659
Immediate Actions Required
- Deactivate and remove the Twitter @Anywhere Plus plugin until a patched version is available
- Audit administrator sessions and rotate credentials for accounts that may have interacted with the plugin admin pages
- Inspect plugin settings and stored content for injected scripts and remove any malicious entries
Patch Information
No fixed version is identified in the available CVE data. The vulnerability affects all releases through version 2.0. Site operators should consult the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for vendor updates.
Workarounds
- Remove the twitter-anywhere-plus plugin from production WordPress installations
- Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule that blocks state-changing requests to wp-admin endpoints lacking a valid _wpnonce token
- Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts on administrative pages
- Require administrators to use a dedicated browser profile that is not used for general web browsing
# Remove the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate twitter-anywhere-plus
wp plugin delete twitter-anywhere-plus
# Verify removal
wp plugin list --status=active | grep -i twitter
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
