CVE-2024-2235
📋 TL;DR
The Himer WordPress theme before version 2.1.1 lacks Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) protection on certain poll voting functionality. This allows attackers to trick authenticated users into submitting unauthorized votes on polls, including those they shouldn't have access to. WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of the Himer theme are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- Himer WordPress Theme
📦 What is this software?
Himer by 2code
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could manipulate poll results at scale by tricking multiple users into voting, potentially affecting business decisions or community trust based on poll outcomes.
Likely Case
Limited manipulation of specific poll results through targeted attacks against users with voting privileges.
If Mitigated
Minimal impact with proper CSRF tokens implemented and user awareness training about suspicious links.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires the victim to be authenticated and tricked into clicking a malicious link or visiting a compromised page.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.1.1
Vendor Advisory: https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/62c8a564-225e-4202-9bb0-03029fa4fd42/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel
2. Navigate to Appearance > Themes
3. Check if Himer theme is active
4. If version is below 2.1.1, update to 2.1.1 or later
5. Verify update completed successfully
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Poll Functionality
allTemporarily disable poll features until patching is possible
Navigate to WordPress admin > Himer theme settings > Disable poll modules
Implement CSRF Protection Manually
allAdd CSRF tokens to poll voting forms via custom code
Add wp_nonce_field() to poll voting forms and verify with wp_verify_nonce()
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block CSRF attempts
- Educate users about not clicking suspicious links and logging out when not using WordPress
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Appearance > Themes > Himer theme details. If version is below 2.1.1, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
In WordPress admin: Appearance > Themes > Himer theme detailsVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify theme version shows 2.1.1 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Multiple poll vote submissions from same user in short timeframe
- Poll votes from unexpected user accounts
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to poll voting endpoints without proper referrer headers
- Suspicious redirects to poll voting URLs
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" OR uri_path CONTAINS "poll") AND http_method="POST" AND referrer NOT CONTAINS own_domain