CVE-2024-13390
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows authenticated WordPress users with contributor-level access or higher to inject malicious scripts via the ADFO plugin's shortcode. The scripts are stored and execute whenever other users view affected pages. All WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of this plugin are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- ADFO – Custom data in admin dashboard WordPress 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 steal administrator credentials, redirect users to malicious sites, deface websites, or perform actions on behalf of authenticated users.
Likely Case
Attackers with contributor accounts inject malicious scripts to steal session cookies or display unwanted content to visitors.
If Mitigated
With proper user access controls and content filtering, impact is limited to potential defacement of specific pages.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is technically simple once an attacker has contributor-level credentials.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.9.2 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://wordpress.org/plugins/admin-form/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'ADFO – Custom data in admin dashboard'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or download version 1.9.2+ from WordPress repository. 5. Activate the updated plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable shortcode
allRemove or disable the 'adfo_list' shortcode functionality
Add to theme's functions.php: remove_shortcode('adfo_list');
Restrict user roles
allTemporarily remove contributor-level posting capabilities
Use WordPress role editor plugin to modify capabilities
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable the ADFO plugin completely until patched
- Implement web application firewall rules to block XSS payloads in shortcode attributes
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → ADFO plugin version. If version is 1.9.1 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name='admin-form' --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version shows 1.9.2 or higher in WordPress admin.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual shortcode usage in post/page edits
- Multiple failed login attempts from new IPs
Network Indicators:
- Script tags in HTTP POST data to WordPress admin
- Unusual outbound connections from WordPress site
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (event="post_edit" OR event="plugin_update") AND plugin_name="admin-form"