CVE-2024-1731 – The Auto Refresh Single Page WordPress plugin i... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2024-1731?

CVE-2024-1731 has a CVSS score of 8.8 (HIGH). The Auto Refresh Single Page WordPress plugin is vulnerable to PHP object injection via insecure deserialization of untrusted input. This allows authenticated attackers with contributor-level access or higher to inject malicious PHP objects. While no known POP chain exists in the plugin itself, if other plugins or themes provide one, attackers could delete files, steal data, or execute arbitrary code.

📋 TL;DR

The Auto Refresh Single Page WordPress plugin is vulnerable to PHP object injection via insecure deserialization of untrusted input. This allows authenticated attackers with contributor-level access or higher to inject malicious PHP objects. While no known POP chain exists in the plugin itself, if other plugins or themes provide one, attackers could delete files, steal data, or execute arbitrary code.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

Auto Refresh Single Page WordPress Plugin

Versions: All versions up to and including 1.1

Operating Systems: All

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: Requires WordPress installation with the vulnerable plugin enabled. Attacker needs contributor-level access or higher.

📦 What is this software?

Auto Refresh Single Page by Rymera

View all CVEs affecting Auto Refresh Single Page →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Remote code execution leading to complete system compromise, data theft, or website defacement if a suitable POP chain exists from other installed plugins/themes.

🟠

Likely Case

Limited impact due to lack of known POP chain in the vulnerable plugin, but potential for data exposure or file deletion if compatible POP chains exist elsewhere.

🟢

If Mitigated

Minimal impact if proper access controls limit contributor accounts and no compatible POP chains are present in the environment.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH

🏢 Internal Only: MEDIUM

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ✅ No

Weaponized: UNKNOWN

Unauthenticated Exploit: ✅ No

Complexity: MEDIUM

Exploitation requires authenticated access and depends on availability of POP chains from other components.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 1.2 or later

Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/auto-refresh-single-page/trunk/auto-refresh-single-page.php#L42

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Update the Auto Refresh Single Page plugin to version 1.2 or later via WordPress admin panel. 2. Verify the update completed successfully. 3. Test plugin functionality.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable Plugin

all

Temporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patching is possible

wp plugin deactivate auto-refresh-single-page

Restrict User Roles

all

Limit contributor-level access to trusted users only

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Remove contributor access from untrusted users
Monitor for suspicious activity from contributor accounts

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check WordPress admin panel for Auto Refresh Single Page plugin version. If version is 1.1 or earlier, system is vulnerable.

Check Version:

wp plugin get auto-refresh-single-page --field=version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm plugin version is 1.2 or later in WordPress admin panel and test plugin functionality.

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

Unusual POST requests to wp-admin with arsp_options parameter
Unexpected file deletions or modifications from contributor accounts
Suspicious PHP object deserialization attempts in web server logs

Network Indicators:

HTTP POST requests containing serialized PHP objects in arsp_options parameter

SIEM Query:

source="web_server_logs" AND (arsp_options OR "auto-refresh-single-page") AND (POST OR contributor)

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2024-1731

CVSS v3 Score: 8.8 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CWE: CWE-502

Published: March 5, 2024

Last Updated: January 8, 2025

🔗 References

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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