Widget Options – The #1 WordPress Widget & Block Control Plugin <= 4.0.7 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Remote Code Execution
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 4.0.8
- Affected Plugin
- Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets
- Affected Version
<= 4.0.7- CVSS
- 9.9Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2024-8672
At a glance
CVE-2024-8672 is a critical-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the Widget Options WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.0.7. It carries a CVSS score of 9.9 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 4.0.8; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2024, reported by Webbernaut.
Vulnerability Overview
The Widget Options – The #1 WordPress Widget & Block Control Plugin plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to, and including, 4.0.7 via the display logic functionality that extends several page builders. This is due to the plugin allowing users to supply input that will be passed through eval() without any filtering or capability checks. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to execute code on the server. Special note: We suggested the vendor implement an allowlist of functions and limit the ability to execute commands to just administrators, however, they did not take our advice. We are considering this patched, however, we believe it could still be further hardened and there may be residual risk with how the issue is currently patched.
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 interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Widget Options <= 4.0.7 carries this weakness at eval(), and reaching it takes an account at Contributor level or above. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.
The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. For Widget Options the fix is 4.0.8: builds <= 4.0.7 are affected, anything from 4.0.8 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 4.0.8, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Contributor access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. 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: Widget Options 4.0.8 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Widget Options – Advanced Conditional Visibility for Gutenberg Blocks & Classic Widgets
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