WP Popup Builder – Popup Forms and Marketing Lead Generation <= 1.3.5 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Shortcode Execution via wp_ajax_nopriv_shortcode_Api_Add
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.3.6
- Affected Plugin
- WP Popup Builder – Popup Forms and Marketing Lead Generation
- Affected Version
<= 1.3.5- CVSS
- 7.3High
- Weakness type
- CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2024-9061
At a glance
CVE-2024-9061 is a high-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the WP Popup Builder WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.3.5. It carries a CVSS score of 7.3 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.3.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2024, reported by Francesco Carlucci.
Vulnerability Overview
The The WP Popup Builder – Popup Forms and Marketing Lead Generation plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution via the wp_ajax_nopriv_shortcode_Api_Add AJAX action in all versions up to, and including, 1.3.5. This is due to the software allowing users to execute an action that does not properly validate a value before running do_shortcode. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes. NOTE: This vulnerability was partially fixed in version 1.3.5 with a nonce check, which effectively prevented access to the affected function. However, version 1.3.6 incorporates the correct authorization check to prevent unauthorized access.
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.
CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Reaching this weakness in WP Popup Builder <= 1.3.5 takes no account at all. 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 WP Popup Builder the fix is 1.3.6: builds <= 1.3.5 are affected, anything from 1.3.6 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.3.6, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: 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: WP Popup Builder 1.3.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Login Security
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in WP Popup Builder – Popup Forms and Marketing Lead Generation
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