Several WordPress.org Plugins <= Various Versions - Injected Backdoor
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.2.4
- Affected Plugin
- Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields
- Affected Version
3.2.3- CVSS
- 10.0Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-506 · Embedded Malicious Code
- CVE
CVE-2024-6297
At a glance
CVE-2024-6297 is a critical-severity Embedded Malicious Code vulnerability in the Pods WordPress plugin, affecting versions 3.2.3. It carries a CVSS score of 10.0 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.2.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2024.
Vulnerability Overview
Several plugins for WordPress hosted on WordPress.org have been compromised and injected with malicious PHP scripts. A malicious threat actor compromised the source code of various plugins and injected code that exfiltrates database credentials and is used to create new, malicious, administrator users and send that data back to a server. All plugins have received updates reverting any added malicious code. Simply Show Hooks affected version (1.2.1) is the same as the patched version (1.2.1) - it does not appear that the malicious copy was ever officially released, so sites running 1.2.1 should be unaffected, though it is a good idea to run a complete Wordfence scan and verify that there are no rogue administrator accounts present.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-506: Embedded Malicious Code
Reaching this weakness in Pods 3.2.3 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Embedded malicious code means functionality was deliberately placed in the software to act against the site owner's interest, rather than being an accidental defect.
Removing the software is not enough on its own — anything it created or modified while active has to be audited too. For Pods the fix is 3.2.4: builds 3.2.3 are affected, anything from 3.2.4 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.2.4, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Pods 3.2.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields
- 9.8CVE-2026-19598: Pods <= 3.3.9 Privilege Escalation
CVE-2026-19598 - 9.8Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields < 2.5.1.2 SQL Injection
- 9.6CVE-2014-7957: Pods <= 2.4.3 Multiple Cross-Site Request Forgery
CVE-2014-7957 - 8.8CVE-2023-6967: Pods Custom Content Types and Fields - Authenticated
CVE-2023-6967 - 8.8CVE-2023-6999: Pods Custom Content Types and Fields - Authenticated
CVE-2023-6999 - 7.2CVE-2026-54191: Pods – Custom Content Types and Fields Stored XSS
CVE-2026-54191 - 7.1CVE-2023-23790: Pods <= 2.9.10.2 Cross-Site Request Forgery
CVE-2023-23790 - 6.1CVE-2014-7956: Pods <= 2.4.3 Cross-Site Scripting
CVE-2014-7956
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C