CVE-2024-54423 Overview
CVE-2024-54423 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Jesse Overright Social Media Sharing plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 1.1. An attacker can chain the CSRF weakness with a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) payload, allowing arbitrary script content to be persisted in the plugin configuration when an authenticated administrator visits a crafted page.
Critical Impact
Successful exploitation persists attacker-controlled JavaScript in a WordPress site, enabling session hijacking, administrative action abuse, and downstream compromise of site visitors.
Affected Products
- Jesse Overright Social Media Sharing plugin (social-media-sharing) for WordPress
- All plugin versions from initial release through 1.1
- WordPress sites with the plugin installed and accessible administrator sessions
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-12-16 - CVE-2024-54423 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-54423
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability stems from missing CSRF protection on state-changing requests handled by the Social Media Sharing plugin. The plugin accepts configuration updates without validating an anti-CSRF nonce, classified as [CWE-352]. Because the affected endpoint also fails to sanitize and encode user-supplied input, attacker-controlled values are stored and later rendered in the browser context. This combination converts a CSRF primitive into a Stored XSS condition, escalating the impact beyond a single forged request.
The EPSS score is 0.202%, indicating a low predicted likelihood of exploitation observed in the wild at this time. No public proof-of-concept exploit and no CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities listing are associated with this CVE.
Root Cause
The plugin does not enforce a WordPress nonce check (wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer) on requests that modify plugin settings. It additionally omits output encoding when rendering stored values, allowing HTML and JavaScript payloads supplied by an attacker to execute when the page loads.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires user interaction from an authenticated administrator. The attacker hosts a malicious page that issues a forged POST request to the WordPress admin endpoint exposed by the plugin. When the administrator visits the page while logged in, the browser submits the request using the active session. The forged request stores attacker-controlled script content in the plugin configuration. Any subsequent visit to the affected admin or front-end view executes the stored payload in the victim's browser. See the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for technical details.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-54423
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script>, onerror, or onload strings in Social Media Sharing plugin settings stored in the wp_options table
- Administrator browser sessions making outbound requests to unfamiliar domains shortly after visiting external links
- New or modified WordPress administrator accounts created without a corresponding authorized change request
Detection Strategies
- Review the wp_options rows associated with the social-media-sharing plugin for HTML or JavaScript content where plain text is expected
- Inspect web server access logs for POST requests to plugin admin endpoints lacking a valid Referer matching the site origin
- Monitor WordPress audit logs for plugin setting changes correlated with administrator page views from external referrers
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable a WordPress activity logging plugin to record administrator setting changes with timestamps and source IP addresses
- Forward web server and WordPress audit logs to a centralized SIEM for correlation against known administrator workflows
- Alert on anomalous outbound HTTP requests originating from administrator browser sessions immediately after authenticated page loads
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-54423
Immediate Actions Required
- Deactivate the Jesse Overright Social Media Sharing plugin until a patched version is published by the maintainer
- Audit plugin configuration values for stored HTML or JavaScript content and remove any unauthorized entries
- Rotate WordPress administrator credentials and invalidate active sessions if exploitation is suspected
Patch Information
No vendor-supplied patch is referenced in the NVD entry at the time of publication. The vulnerability affects the plugin through version 1.1. Consult the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for updated remediation guidance.
Workarounds
- Remove the social-media-sharing plugin directory from wp-content/plugins/ if a replacement social sharing solution is acceptable
- Restrict access to the WordPress admin interface using IP allowlisting at the web server or web application firewall layer
- Train administrators to log out of WordPress sessions before browsing untrusted external sites to reduce CSRF exposure
# Disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate social-media-sharing
wp plugin delete social-media-sharing
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
