CVE-2024-11733
📋 TL;DR
The WordPress Popular Posts plugin up to version 7.1.0 allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary WordPress shortcodes due to insufficient input validation. This vulnerability affects all WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of the plugin, potentially enabling attackers to inject malicious content or execute unauthorized actions.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress Popular Posts plugin
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could execute arbitrary shortcodes that trigger remote code execution, install backdoors, deface websites, or steal sensitive data through malicious shortcode payloads.
Likely Case
Attackers inject malicious shortcodes to display unauthorized content, redirect users, or perform limited administrative actions depending on available shortcodes.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and shortcode whitelisting, impact is limited to non-malicious shortcode execution or blocked entirely.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending crafted requests to vulnerable endpoints without authentication.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 7.1.1 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find WordPress Popular Posts. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 7.1.1+ from WordPress repository and replace plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable REST endpoint
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable ViewLoggerEndpoint REST route
Add to theme's functions.php or custom plugin: remove_action('rest_api_init', 'WordPressPopularPosts\Rest\ViewLoggerEndpoint::init');
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable WordPress Popular Posts plugin entirely
- Implement web application firewall rules to block requests to /wp-json/wordpress-popular-posts/v1/popular-posts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins for WordPress Popular Posts version 7.1.0 or earlierCheck Version:
wp plugin list --name=wordpress-popular-posts --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm plugin version is 7.1.1 or later in WordPress admin📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to /wp-json/wordpress-popular-posts/v1/popular-posts
- Shortcode execution errors in WordPress debug logs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests with shortcode parameters to vulnerable endpoint
- Unusual traffic patterns to REST API endpoints
SIEM Query:
source="web_server" AND uri_path="/wp-json/wordpress-popular-posts/v1/popular-posts" AND http_method="POST"