CVE-2024-52472: Weather Atlas Widget XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2024-52472 Overview

CVE-2024-52472 is a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Weather Atlas Widget plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions of the plugin up to and including 3.0.3. The plugin fails to properly neutralize user-supplied input before reflecting it into rendered web pages, allowing attackers to inject arbitrary JavaScript. The issue is classified under CWE-79, Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation.

Critical Impact
Attackers can execute arbitrary JavaScript in the browser of any user who clicks a crafted link, enabling session hijacking, credential theft, and unauthorized actions on the WordPress site.

Affected Products

Weather Atlas Widget WordPress plugin (slug: weather-atlas)
All versions from initial release through 3.0.3
WordPress installations with the affected plugin enabled

Discovery Timeline

2024-11-20 - CVE-2024-52472 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-52472

Vulnerability Analysis

The Weather Atlas Widget plugin reflects attacker-controlled input back into HTTP responses without applying proper output encoding or input sanitization. When a victim loads a URL containing a malicious payload, the browser parses and executes the injected script in the context of the vulnerable WordPress site.

Reflected XSS requires user interaction, typically tricking a victim into clicking a crafted link. Successful exploitation can run JavaScript with the privileges of the targeted user, including authenticated administrators. This enables theft of session cookies, forced administrative actions, defacement, or pivoting to additional WordPress attack chains.

The scope-changed nature of the issue means the injected script can affect components beyond the vulnerable endpoint, broadening the blast radius across the WordPress site. The EPSS probability for this CVE is approximately 0.26%.

Root Cause

The plugin does not sanitize or encode parameters supplied through HTTP requests before echoing them into the page output. Standard WordPress functions such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses() are not consistently applied to user-controlled values processed by the widget.

Attack Vector

An unauthenticated attacker crafts a URL containing a malicious JavaScript payload as a parameter consumed by the Weather Atlas Widget. The attacker distributes this URL through phishing, social media, or other channels. When a logged-in WordPress user opens the link, the payload executes in their browser session, inheriting their privileges on the site.

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network without authentication, but requires the victim to interact with the malicious link. See the Patchstack WordPress Plugin Advisory for additional technical detail.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-52472

Indicators of Compromise

HTTP request logs containing URL parameters with <script>, javascript:, or HTML event handlers (onerror=, onload=) targeting Weather Atlas Widget endpoints
Unexpected outbound requests from authenticated admin sessions to attacker-controlled domains
Newly created WordPress administrator accounts or modified user roles following widget-related traffic

Detection Strategies

Inspect web server access logs for query strings containing encoded or raw HTML/JavaScript directed at pages rendering the Weather Atlas Widget
Deploy a web application firewall (WAF) rule set that flags reflected XSS payloads in request parameters
Use browser-based Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reporting to surface injected script execution attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on anomalous referrer chains where users arrive at WordPress admin pages from external links containing script-like parameters
Track plugin inventory and version drift across WordPress sites to identify hosts still running weather-atlas<= 3.0.3
Correlate XSS alerts with subsequent privileged actions in WordPress audit logs

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-52472

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Weather Atlas Widget plugin to a version later than 3.0.3 once a patched release is published by the vendor
If no patched version is available, deactivate and remove the plugin from affected WordPress installations
Force-rotate WordPress session cookies and administrator credentials if exploitation is suspected

Patch Information

The Patchstack advisory tracks this vulnerability in versions up to and including 3.0.3. Site administrators should monitor the Patchstack WordPress Plugin Advisory and the official plugin page on WordPress.org for a fixed release.

Workarounds

Implement a strict Content Security Policy that blocks inline script execution and restricts script sources to trusted origins
Deploy WAF rules to filter common reflected XSS payload patterns in HTTP parameters before they reach WordPress
Restrict plugin access using server-level rules until a patched version is installed

bash

# Example nginx WAF-style rule to block obvious XSS payloads on widget endpoints
location ~* /wp-content/plugins/weather-atlas/ {
    if ($args ~* "(<|%3C)script|javascript:|onerror=|onload=") {
        return 403;
    }
}