CVE-2024-53732 Overview
CVE-2024-53732 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the wpwox Footer Flyout Widget plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 1.1. An attacker can chain the missing CSRF protection with a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) payload, persisting malicious JavaScript in the plugin's stored settings. The issue is tracked under CWE-352 and carries a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.1.
Critical Impact
An unauthenticated attacker who tricks an authenticated administrator into visiting a crafted page can inject persistent JavaScript that executes in the browser context of any site visitor or administrator viewing the affected widget.
Affected Products
- wpwox Footer Flyout Widget plugin (footer-flyout-widget)
- All versions from initial release through 1.1
- WordPress sites with the plugin installed and activated
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-11-28 - CVE-2024-53732 published to NVD
- 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-53732
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is a CSRF-to-Stored-XSS chain in the Footer Flyout Widget plugin. The plugin's settings handler accepts state-changing POST requests without verifying a valid WordPress nonce or equivalent anti-CSRF token. As a result, an attacker can forge a request that updates widget configuration on behalf of an authenticated administrator.
Because the affected configuration fields are rendered into pages without sufficient output encoding, attacker-controlled values are stored and later executed as JavaScript in the browser of every user who loads the widget. This converts a single successful social-engineering interaction into a persistent XSS foothold on the WordPress site.
The attack requires user interaction (UI:R) — typically an administrator clicking an attacker-supplied link — but no prior privileges on the target site. The scope-changed CVSS vector reflects that the injected script can affect users beyond the original victim.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing CSRF protection on a privileged settings endpoint, combined with insufficient sanitization and escaping of stored values. WordPress plugins are expected to validate requests with wp_verify_nonce() or check_admin_referer() and to apply context-appropriate escaping such as esc_html() or esc_attr() when rendering stored input.
Attack Vector
Exploitation follows a standard CSRF-to-XSS chain. The attacker hosts a malicious page containing an auto-submitting form or fetch() call targeting the plugin's settings endpoint with a JavaScript payload in a vulnerable parameter. When a logged-in administrator visits the page, the browser submits the request with valid session cookies. The plugin processes the request, stores the payload, and serves it back as executable script on subsequent page loads. See the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report for technical details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-53732
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers, or external JavaScript references stored in Footer Flyout Widget configuration rows within the wp_options table
- Administrator account modifying widget settings from an unusual IP, browser, or Referer header inconsistent with the WordPress admin origin
- Outbound requests from site visitors to attacker-controlled domains shortly after the widget renders
Detection Strategies
- Audit WordPress database entries associated with the footer-flyout-widget plugin for HTML or JavaScript content in fields expected to contain plain text
- Review web server access logs for POST requests to plugin admin endpoints lacking a valid _wpnonce parameter or carrying a cross-origin Referer
- Enable WordPress activity logging to capture settings changes and correlate them with administrator sessions
Monitoring Recommendations
- Deploy a Content Security Policy (CSP) in report-only mode to surface unexpected inline-script execution on public pages
- Monitor administrator browsers for outbound navigations to untrusted domains immediately preceding settings changes
- Track plugin file integrity and version metadata to detect unpatched installations across managed WordPress estates
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-53732
Immediate Actions Required
- Deactivate the Footer Flyout Widget plugin until a patched release is verified and installed
- Inspect plugin settings and the wp_options table for injected script content and remove any unauthorized entries
- Force-reset administrator sessions and rotate credentials if stored XSS execution is suspected
Patch Information
No fixed version is identified in the available advisory data. The vulnerability affects all versions through 1.1. Site operators should monitor the Patchstack advisory and the plugin's WordPress.org listing for an updated release that adds nonce verification and output escaping.
Workarounds
- Remove or replace the Footer Flyout Widget plugin with an actively maintained alternative
- Restrict WordPress administrator accounts to dedicated browsers or sessions that do not browse untrusted sites, reducing CSRF exposure
- Apply a web application firewall rule that requires a valid _wpnonce parameter and same-origin Referer on POST requests to /wp-admin/ endpoints associated with the plugin
# Example: disable the plugin via WP-CLI until a patch is released
wp plugin deactivate footer-flyout-widget
wp plugin delete footer-flyout-widget
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
