CVE-2024-51669 Overview
CVE-2024-51669 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the Kalmang Dynamic Widgets plugin for WordPress. The flaw impacts all versions of the dynamic-widgets plugin up to and including 1.6.4. An attacker can craft a malicious web page that, when visited by an authenticated WordPress user, triggers unauthorized state-changing actions on the target site. The vulnerability maps to CWE-352: Cross-Site Request Forgery and requires user interaction to succeed.
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation permits attackers to perform privileged plugin actions on behalf of authenticated administrators, resulting in high impact to confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected WordPress site.
Affected Products
- Kalmang Dynamic Widgets (dynamic-widgets) WordPress plugin
- All versions from n/a through 1.6.4
- WordPress installations with the plugin active and administrator sessions available
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-11-19 - CVE-2024-51669 published to the National Vulnerability Database
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-51669
Vulnerability Analysis
The Dynamic Widgets plugin exposes administrative endpoints that accept state-changing requests without validating an anti-CSRF token. When an authenticated WordPress administrator visits an attacker-controlled page, the browser automatically attaches session cookies to a forged request targeting the plugin. The plugin processes the request as legitimate because it lacks nonce verification via wp_verify_nonce() or an equivalent origin check.
Exploitation requires user interaction, typically luring an authenticated administrator to click a link or load a page containing the malicious payload. Because plugin actions run with administrator privileges, an attacker can alter widget configurations, modify plugin settings, or chain the CSRF with other WordPress functionality to escalate impact.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or improper CSRF protection on privileged plugin request handlers. The plugin does not enforce a per-request nonce and does not validate the Origin or Referer headers before executing sensitive operations. This is the canonical pattern described in CWE-352.
Attack Vector
The attack vector is network-based and remote. An attacker hosts a page containing an auto-submitting HTML form or an XMLHttpRequest targeting the vulnerable plugin endpoint. When a logged-in WordPress administrator loads the attacker page, the browser issues the forged request with valid session cookies, and the plugin executes the action without further authorization checks.
No verified public exploit code is available. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for advisory details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-51669
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected changes to Dynamic Widgets plugin configuration, widget visibility rules, or associated wp_options entries.
- WordPress access logs showing POST requests to plugin endpoints with external Referer headers pointing to untrusted domains.
- Administrator sessions performing plugin actions immediately after browsing to non-corporate URLs.
Detection Strategies
- Inspect web server access logs for authenticated POST requests to wp-admin handlers registered by the dynamic-widgets plugin that lack a valid _wpnonce parameter.
- Correlate administrator authentication events with subsequent plugin configuration changes and cross-reference against the originating Referer header.
- Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to flag cross-origin requests targeting /wp-admin/admin.php?page=dynamic-widgets and similar paths.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable WordPress audit logging to record plugin setting modifications with user, IP, and timestamp attribution.
- Alert on administrator activity that originates from browsers with external Referer headers or missing nonces.
- Monitor the dynamic-widgets plugin version across all managed WordPress sites to confirm patch status.
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-51669
Immediate Actions Required
- Update the Dynamic Widgets plugin to a version newer than 1.6.4 once the vendor publishes a fix, or deactivate and remove the plugin if no patched release is available.
- Force reauthentication of all WordPress administrators and invalidate existing sessions to reduce the window for CSRF abuse.
- Restrict administrative access to trusted IP ranges through the web server or WAF.
Patch Information
No vendor-supplied patch URL is listed in the enriched data at the time of writing. Consult the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for the latest remediation status and any released updates beyond version 1.6.4.
Workarounds
- Disable the Dynamic Widgets plugin until a patched release is confirmed and deployed.
- Deploy a WAF rule that rejects state-changing requests to plugin endpoints when the Referer or Origin header does not match the site domain.
- Require administrators to use dedicated browser profiles or isolated sessions for WordPress management to reduce cross-site attack surface.
# Example WAF rule concept (ModSecurity) to block cross-origin POSTs to the plugin
SecRule REQUEST_METHOD "@streq POST" \
"chain,phase:2,deny,status:403,id:1005169,\
msg:'Blocked cross-origin request to dynamic-widgets'"
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@contains dynamic-widgets" "chain"
SecRule REQUEST_HEADERS:Referer "!@beginsWith https://your-wordpress-site.example/"
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
