CVE-2024-54425 Overview
CVE-2024-54425 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability affecting the LionScripts.com Site Maintenance & Noindex Nofollow Plugin for WordPress. The flaw allows an attacker to trick an authenticated administrator into submitting a forged request that results in Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) within the plugin's configuration. Affected versions include the maintenance-and-noindex-nofollow plugin from initial release through version 2.1. The vulnerability is tracked under CWE-352 and is documented in the Patchstack WordPress Vulnerability Report.
Critical Impact
A successful attack chains CSRF with Stored XSS, allowing attackers to inject persistent malicious scripts into WordPress administrative pages when a logged-in admin visits an attacker-controlled page.
Affected Products
- LionScripts: Site Maintenance & Noindex Nofollow Plugin (maintenance-and-noindex-nofollow)
- Plugin versions from initial release through 2.1
- WordPress sites with the vulnerable plugin installed and activated
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-12-16 - CVE-2024-54425 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-54425
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability combines two weaknesses into a single exploit chain. The plugin's settings-handling endpoints lack proper anti-CSRF token validation, and the same endpoints fail to sanitize input fields that are later rendered in administrative views. An attacker hosts a crafted page or form that issues a state-changing request to the target WordPress site. When an authenticated administrator visits the attacker's page, the browser submits the forged request using the administrator's session cookies. The plugin accepts the request and stores attacker-supplied content, which is later rendered without proper output encoding. This results in Stored XSS executing in the context of any administrator viewing the affected page.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing or insufficient CSRF protection on plugin configuration handlers, classified as CWE-352. WordPress provides wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() primitives to prevent forged requests, but the affected plugin endpoints do not enforce nonce validation. The absence of input sanitization on stored fields compounds the issue by allowing the forged request to persist executable script content.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires user interaction from a privileged WordPress user. The attacker prepares a malicious web page containing a hidden form or JavaScript that targets the vulnerable plugin endpoint. The attacker then induces an authenticated administrator to visit the page through phishing or a watering-hole technique. Once the forged request executes, the injected script is stored in the plugin's settings and runs whenever an administrator accesses the relevant admin page. The attacker can use the stored payload to perform session theft, create rogue administrative accounts, or pivot to further compromise of the WordPress installation.
No public proof-of-concept exploit is currently available, and the vulnerability is not listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. Technical details are documented in the Patchstack advisory.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-54425
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers, or JavaScript payloads stored in the plugin's settings within the wp_options table.
- WordPress access logs showing administrator POST requests to the plugin's settings endpoints originating from external Referer headers.
- Newly created administrator accounts or unexpected modifications to user roles following an administrator's browsing session.
- Outbound connections from administrator browsers to unknown domains after visiting WordPress admin pages.
Detection Strategies
- Inspect the wp_options table for plugin-related option keys containing HTML or JavaScript content that should be plain text.
- Review web server access logs for POST requests to wp-admin plugin pages lacking valid _wpnonce parameters or carrying suspicious external referrers.
- Deploy a web application firewall rule to flag administrative form submissions missing nonce values.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable WordPress audit logging to track plugin setting changes and correlate them with administrator session activity.
- Monitor administrative pages for unexpected script execution using browser Content Security Policy (CSP) reporting endpoints.
- Alert on installations of the maintenance-and-noindex-nofollow plugin at version 2.1 or earlier across managed WordPress estates.
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-54425
Immediate Actions Required
- Identify all WordPress sites running the LionScripts Site Maintenance & Noindex Nofollow Plugin at version 2.1 or earlier and prioritize them for remediation.
- Deactivate and remove the plugin if a patched version is not available, and restrict administrative access until the issue is resolved.
- Rotate administrator credentials and invalidate active WordPress sessions to limit the value of any captured session data.
- Audit wp_options and rendered admin pages for previously injected payloads and remove any malicious content.
Patch Information
At the time of NVD publication, the advisory indicates the vulnerability affects versions through 2.1 with no fixed version explicitly listed. Administrators should monitor the Patchstack advisory and the WordPress plugin repository for an updated release and apply it immediately when available.
Workarounds
- Disable or uninstall the maintenance-and-noindex-nofollow plugin until a verified patch is published.
- Require administrators to use a dedicated browser or browser profile that does not visit untrusted sites while logged into WordPress.
- Deploy a WAF rule that enforces presence and validation of WordPress _wpnonce tokens on plugin configuration endpoints.
- Apply a strict Content Security Policy on wp-admin pages to limit execution of inline scripts injected via the vulnerability.
# Example WP-CLI commands to identify and disable the vulnerable plugin
wp plugin list --name=maintenance-and-noindex-nofollow --fields=name,status,version
wp plugin deactivate maintenance-and-noindex-nofollow
wp plugin delete maintenance-and-noindex-nofollow
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
