CVE-2024-10261
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary WordPress shortcodes in the Paid Membership Subscriptions plugin. Attackers can potentially run malicious code, access restricted content, or modify site behavior. All WordPress sites using this plugin up to version 2.13.0 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Paid Membership Subscriptions WordPress plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete site compromise through execution of malicious PHP code via shortcodes, leading to data theft, defacement, or backdoor installation.
Likely Case
Unauthorized access to premium content, privilege escalation, or injection of malicious scripts/ads.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if shortcode execution is restricted through security plugins or custom filters.
🎯 Exploit Status
Simple HTTP request exploitation with no authentication required. Technical details are publicly available.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.13.1
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3182968/paid-member-subscriptions
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Go to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Paid Membership Subscriptions'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 2.13.1+ from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable plugin
allTemporarily disable the Paid Membership Subscriptions plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate paid-member-subscriptions
Restrict access
allUse web application firewall to block suspicious requests to affected endpoints
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement strict WAF rules to block shortcode execution attempts
- Disable user registration and limit site access to trusted IPs only
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins → Paid Membership Subscriptions versionCheck Version:
wp plugin get paid-member-subscriptions --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm plugin version is 2.13.1 or higher in WordPress admin📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to WordPress endpoints with shortcode parameters
- Multiple 404 or 403 errors from unauthenticated users
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing [shortcode] patterns from unexpected sources
- Spike in requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("do_shortcode" OR "[shortcode]" OR "admin-ajax.php") AND status=200