CVE-2024-54415: WP-HideThat CSRF Vulnerability

CVE-2024-54415 Overview

CVE-2024-54415 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the WP-HideThat WordPress plugin developed by cconoly. The flaw affects all versions of wp-hide-that up to and including version 1.2. An attacker can chain the CSRF weakness with Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) to persist malicious JavaScript through an authenticated administrator's browser session. Exploitation requires user interaction, typically tricking a logged-in administrator into visiting an attacker-controlled page. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-352 and was published to the National Vulnerability Database on December 16, 2024.

Critical Impact
Successful exploitation allows attackers to inject persistent JavaScript into the WordPress site, leading to session theft, administrator account compromise, and potential site takeover.

Affected Products

WP-HideThat WordPress plugin (wp-hide-that) versions up to and including 1.2
WordPress sites with the plugin installed and active
Administrator and editor user accounts authenticated to vulnerable installations

Discovery Timeline

2024-12-16 - CVE-2024-54415 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-54415

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability combines two weaknesses in the WP-HideThat plugin. The plugin's state-changing endpoints lack proper CSRF protection, meaning requests are not validated with WordPress nonces (wp_nonce tokens) or equivalent anti-forgery checks. Additionally, user-controlled input processed through these endpoints is not properly sanitized or escaped before being stored and later rendered in the WordPress admin context.

An attacker hosts a malicious page containing a forged request targeting the plugin's settings endpoint. When an authenticated WordPress administrator visits the page, their browser submits the request with valid session cookies. The plugin accepts the request and stores the attacker's payload, which executes as JavaScript when any administrator subsequently views the affected page. The attack vector is network-based and requires user interaction, with a changed scope reflecting the cross-context impact between the attacker's origin and the WordPress administrative interface.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing CSRF token validation on plugin endpoints that accept and persist user-controllable data, combined with insufficient output encoding. WordPress provides wp_create_nonce() and check_admin_referer() functions specifically to defend against CSRF, but the plugin fails to use these primitives on the affected request handlers.

Attack Vector

The attack vector is remote and unauthenticated from the attacker's perspective, but requires a logged-in WordPress administrator to interact with attacker-controlled content. A typical exploitation chain involves phishing the administrator with a link or embedding an auto-submitting form on a third-party site. Once the forged request is processed, the stored XSS payload executes in the context of every administrator who visits the affected admin page. See the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-54415

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected <script> tags or JavaScript event handlers stored in WP-HideThat plugin settings within the wp_options table
POST requests to plugin endpoints originating from external referrers rather than the WordPress admin domain
New or modified administrator accounts created shortly after suspicious plugin configuration changes
Outbound network connections from administrator browsers to unfamiliar domains following admin panel access

Detection Strategies

Audit the wp_options table for plugin-related entries containing HTML or script content that should not be present in configuration values
Monitor WordPress access logs for POST requests to plugin endpoints lacking valid Referer headers matching the site origin
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules that flag cross-origin POST requests to /wp-admin/ endpoints

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress activity logging plugins to capture configuration changes, user creation events, and plugin option updates
Forward WordPress and web server logs to a centralized SIEM for correlation against known CSRF and XSS patterns
Alert on Content Security Policy (CSP) violations reported by administrator browsers, which can surface injected scripts

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-54415

Immediate Actions Required

Deactivate and remove the WP-HideThat plugin if a patched version is not yet available
Review plugin configuration values in the wp_options table and remove any unexpected HTML or JavaScript content
Force a password reset for all administrator accounts and invalidate active WordPress sessions
Audit recent administrative actions for unauthorized account creation or content changes

Patch Information

At the time of CVE publication, no fixed version had been released. The vulnerability affects WP-HideThat versions up to and including 1.2. Site administrators should monitor the Patchstack advisory and the plugin's WordPress.org listing for updates.

Workarounds

Uninstall the WP-HideThat plugin until a vendor patch is published
Deploy a WAF rule set that enforces same-origin checks and validates Referer and Origin headers on /wp-admin/ POST requests
Apply a Content Security Policy header that restricts inline scripts and unauthorized script sources within the WordPress admin interface
Restrict administrator access to a known IP allowlist to reduce the attack surface for CSRF delivery

bash

# Example Apache configuration to enforce same-origin POSTs to wp-admin
<LocationMatch "^/wp-admin/">
    SetEnvIfNoCase Referer "^https://your-site\.example/" same_origin
    <LimitExcept GET HEAD>
        Require env same_origin
    </LimitExcept>
</LocationMatch>