CVE-2024-2233
📋 TL;DR
The Himer WordPress theme before version 2.1.1 lacks CSRF protection on group management functions, allowing attackers to trick logged-in users into performing unwanted group actions. This affects WordPress sites using the vulnerable Himer theme versions. Attackers can manipulate group invitations and memberships without the user's consent.
💻 Affected Systems
- Himer WordPress Theme
📦 What is this software?
Himer by 2code
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could manipulate group memberships at scale, potentially disrupting community functions, causing reputation damage, or enabling social engineering attacks through group access.
Likely Case
Attackers trick users into leaving or joining groups they shouldn't, causing minor disruption to community management and user experience.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF tokens implemented, no unauthorized group actions can be performed through forged requests.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires the attacker to trick a logged-in user into visiting a malicious page while authenticated. No authentication bypass is needed as the attack leverages the victim's existing session.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.1.1
Vendor Advisory: https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/51d0311a-673b-4538-9427-a48e8c89e38b/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel
2. Navigate to Appearance > Themes
3. Check if Himer theme is active
4. Update the Himer theme to version 2.1.1 or later
5. Verify the update completed successfully
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary CSRF Protection
allAdd custom CSRF token validation to group management endpoints
Add wp_nonce_field() and wp_verify_nonce() calls to relevant theme template files
Theme Deactivation
linuxSwitch to a different WordPress theme temporarily
wp theme activate twentytwentyfour
wp theme deactivate himer
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block CSRF attacks
- Educate users about not clicking suspicious links while logged into the site
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Appearance > Themes and verify Himer theme version is below 2.1.1Check Version:
wp theme list --name=himer --fields=name,status,versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm Himer theme version is 2.1.1 or higher in WordPress admin📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple group invitation accept/decline actions from same IP in short timeframe
- Group membership changes without corresponding user interface interactions
Network Indicators:
- POST requests to group management endpoints without proper referrer headers or CSRF tokens
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" OR uri_path CONTAINS "group") AND action IN ("accept_invitation","decline_invitation","leave_group")