CVE-2024-56017 Overview
CVE-2024-56017 is a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Tom Royal Stop Registration Spam plugin for WordPress. The flaw enables an attacker to trick an authenticated administrator into submitting a forged request that injects malicious script content into the plugin's stored configuration. The injected payload then executes in the browser of any user who renders the affected page, resulting in Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). The issue affects all versions of Stop Registration Spam up to and including 1.23 and is tracked under [CWE-352].
Critical Impact
An attacker can chain CSRF with Stored XSS to execute arbitrary JavaScript in an administrator's browser, leading to session compromise, account takeover, or further WordPress site manipulation.
Affected Products
- Tom Royal Stop Registration Spam plugin for WordPress
- All versions from n/a through 1.23
- WordPress sites running the vulnerable plugin with administrator access
Discovery Timeline
- 2024-12-16 - CVE-2024-56017 published to NVD
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2024-56017
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability combines two weaknesses into a single exploitation chain. The plugin's settings or configuration endpoint fails to validate the origin of state-changing requests, omitting a CSRF nonce check that WordPress recommends through its wp_nonce_field() and check_admin_referer() APIs. The same endpoint also accepts user-controlled input that is later rendered without proper output encoding, producing a Stored XSS sink.
An attacker hosts a malicious page containing a forged form or fetch request targeting the plugin's update handler. When an authenticated administrator visits this page, the browser submits the request with valid session cookies. The server processes the request as legitimate and persists the attacker-supplied script payload into the plugin's stored data. Any subsequent visit to a page that renders this data triggers script execution in the victim's authenticated context.
Root Cause
The root cause is missing CSRF protection on a privileged state-changing action, compounded by missing input sanitization and output escaping. WordPress provides sanitize_text_field(), wp_kses(), and nonce verification primitives, but the plugin does not apply them on the affected handler through version 1.23.
Attack Vector
Exploitation requires network access to deliver the malicious page and user interaction from a logged-in WordPress administrator. No prior authentication on the target site is required of the attacker. Once the administrator loads the attacker-controlled content, the chained CSRF-to-XSS payload executes silently. Refer to the Patchstack Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.
Detection Methods for CVE-2024-56017
Indicators of Compromise
- Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers, or obfuscated JavaScript stored in Stop Registration Spam plugin settings within the wp_options table.
- WordPress administrator sessions originating from anomalous IP addresses shortly after visiting external links.
- New or modified administrator accounts, unexpected plugin installs, or theme file changes following plugin configuration updates.
Detection Strategies
- Inspect plugin option rows in the WordPress database for HTML or JavaScript content that should contain only plain text values.
- Review web server access logs for POST requests to plugin admin endpoints lacking a valid Referer header matching the site origin.
- Audit the WordPress activity log for plugin settings changes that do not correlate with legitimate administrator activity.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Enable a web application firewall ruleset that flags cross-origin POST requests to /wp-admin/ endpoints.
- Monitor outbound DNS and HTTP requests from administrator workstations for callbacks to unknown domains following WordPress admin sessions.
- Alert on unauthorized modifications to WordPress user roles, options, or plugin files.
How to Mitigate CVE-2024-56017
Immediate Actions Required
- Deactivate the Stop Registration Spam plugin until a patched version is verified and installed.
- Force-reset passwords and invalidate active sessions for all WordPress administrator accounts.
- Inspect and clean plugin option values in the database to remove any injected script content.
Patch Information
No fixed version is identified in the available advisory data; the vulnerability affects Stop Registration Spam through version 1.23. Monitor the Patchstack Vulnerability Report and the official WordPress plugin repository for an updated release that introduces nonce validation and input sanitization.
Workarounds
- Remove the plugin and replace it with an actively maintained anti-spam registration solution that enforces CSRF nonces.
- Restrict WordPress administrator access to dedicated browsers or workstations that do not browse untrusted web content.
- Deploy a Content Security Policy (CSP) header that disallows inline scripts in the WordPress admin interface to reduce Stored XSS impact.
# Configuration example: temporarily disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate stop-registration-spam
wp plugin delete stop-registration-spam
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
