CVE-2024-53770 Overview
CVE-2024-53770 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the pbmacintyre RingCentral Communications WordPress plugin (rccp-free). The flaw affects all versions up to and including 1.7.0. An attacker who tricks an authenticated administrator into visiting a crafted page can submit forged requests that inject persistent JavaScript into plugin-managed content, resulting in Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-352 and was published to the National Vulnerability Database on December 2, 2024.
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation chains CSRF with Stored XSS, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary script in administrator browsers, hijack sessions, and pivot to full site compromise.
Affected Products
- RingCentral Communications WordPress plugin (rccp-free) versions up to and including 1.7.0
- WordPress sites with the plugin installed and active
- Administrator accounts authenticated to vulnerable installations
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-12-02 - CVE-2024-53770 published to NVD
- 2026-04-23 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-53770
Vulnerability Analysis
The rccp-free plugin processes state-changing requests without verifying request origin. The plugin omits or fails to validate WordPress anti-CSRF nonces on endpoints that accept plugin configuration input. When an authenticated administrator visits an attacker-controlled page, the browser silently submits forged POST requests carrying malicious payloads. The plugin then stores attacker-supplied content without sufficient sanitization or output encoding.
Because the stored content is later rendered in the WordPress admin or front-end context, the injected JavaScript executes whenever a victim views the affected page. This chains CSRF with persistent XSS, expanding the impact beyond a one-shot request to ongoing script execution against any user who loads the compromised content.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing CSRF token verification on plugin handlers, compounded by inadequate input sanitization and output escaping. WordPress provides wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() for nonce enforcement, along with sanitize_text_field() and esc_html() for safe rendering. The vulnerable plugin code paths through version 1.7.0 do not consistently apply these controls.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires user interaction from an authenticated administrator. The attacker hosts a malicious page containing an auto-submitting HTML form or JavaScript that targets the vulnerable plugin endpoint. When the administrator visits the page while logged into WordPress, the browser includes session cookies with the forged request. The injected payload persists in plugin storage and executes in the context of every subsequent page view, enabling cookie theft, account takeover, and further administrative actions.
No public proof-of-concept exploit is currently listed in Exploit-DB, and this CVE is not present on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Refer to the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-53770
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers (onerror, onload), or obfuscated JavaScript stored in plugin configuration fields or rendered pages.
- Administrative changes to RingCentral plugin settings that do not correlate with legitimate admin sessions.
- HTTP Referer headers on plugin endpoints pointing to external, non-WordPress domains.
- Outbound requests from administrator browsers to unfamiliar hosts shortly after viewing WordPress admin pages.
Detection Strategies
- Scan the WordPress database (wp_options, wp_postmeta) for HTML or script content within rccp-free plugin keys.
- Inspect web server access logs for POST requests to rccp-free plugin endpoints lacking valid nonce parameters.
- Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to flag plugin POST requests with off-site referrers or missing _wpnonce values.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable WordPress audit logging to capture plugin setting changes with user, IP, and timestamp.
- Monitor browser-side Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports for unexpected inline script execution.
- Correlate administrator login events with subsequent plugin configuration writes to identify anomalous patterns.
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-53770
Immediate Actions Required
- Update the rccp-free plugin to a version newer than 1.7.0 once the vendor publishes a fix, or deactivate and remove the plugin if no patch is yet available.
- Audit existing plugin configuration data for injected scripts and remove any malicious content.
- Force-reset administrator session cookies and rotate credentials for users who may have been exposed.
Patch Information
At the time of publication, no fixed version is referenced in the available CVE data. Monitor the Patchstack advisory and the WordPress plugin repository for updates and apply releases above 1.7.0 as soon as they become available.
Workarounds
- Deactivate the RingCentral Communications plugin until a patched release is installed.
- Restrict administrative access to trusted networks using IP allowlisting at the web server or WAF layer.
- Enforce a strict Content Security Policy (CSP) that disallows inline scripts to limit Stored XSS impact.
- Train administrators to avoid clicking untrusted links while authenticated to WordPress and to use a separate browser profile for admin tasks.
# Temporarily disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate rccp-free
wp plugin delete rccp-free
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
