CVE-2021-24933

Dynamic Widgets <= 1.5.16 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting

2021-12-28 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 1.6
Affected Plugin: Dynamic Widgets
Affected Version: <= 1.5.16
CVSS: 5.4Medium
Weakness type: CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE: CVE-2021-24933

View all Dynamic Widgets vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-24933 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Dynamic Widgets WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.5.16. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 1.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2021, reported by ZhongFu Su.

Vulnerability Overview

The Dynamic Widgets WordPress plugin through 1.5.16 does not escape the prefix parameter before outputting it back in an attribute when using the term_tree AJAX action (available to any authenticated users), leading to a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting issue

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed.

CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Reaching this weakness in Dynamic Widgets <= 1.5.16 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.

Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For Dynamic Widgets the fix is 1.6: builds <= 1.5.16 are affected, anything from 1.6 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.6, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Dynamic Widgets: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Dynamic Widgets 1.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24933 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/46271ab0-5f24-4cdb-9e1f-12db7bcbea6c https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24933

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in Dynamic Widgets

CVSS Vector

5.4

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionRequired
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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