CVE-2024-38700
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows attackers to inject and execute arbitrary shortcodes in the WPCS WordPress Currency Switcher Professional plugin. Attackers can execute malicious code on affected WordPress sites. All WordPress sites using WPCS version 1.2.0.3 or earlier are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- WPCS WordPress Currency Switcher Professional
⚠️ 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
Complete site takeover through remote code execution, data theft, malware installation, and website defacement.
Likely Case
Unauthorized content modification, shortcode injection leading to malicious redirects or ads, and potential privilege escalation.
If Mitigated
Limited impact with proper input validation and output encoding, potentially only minor content manipulation.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires minimal technical skill due to WordPress shortcode injection nature.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.2.0.4 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find WPCS WordPress Currency Switcher Professional. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. If no update appears, manually download version 1.2.0.4+ from WordPress.org and replace plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable WPCS Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate wpcs-currency-switcher
Input Validation Filter
allAdd custom filter to sanitize shortcode inputs
add_filter('do_shortcode_tag', 'sanitize_shortcode_input', 10, 2);
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove WPCS plugin entirely and use alternative currency switcher
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block shortcode injection attempts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > WPCS version. If version is 1.2.0.3 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get wpcs-currency-switcher --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify WPCS plugin version is 1.2.0.4 or later in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual shortcode execution in WordPress debug logs
- Multiple failed shortcode injection attempts in web server logs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests containing malicious shortcode patterns to WordPress admin-ajax.php
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("[shortcode]" OR "do_shortcode") AND ("eval" OR "system" OR "exec")🔗 References
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/currency-switcher/wordpress-wpcs-wordpress-currency-switcher-professional-plugin-1-2-0-3-arbitrary-shortcode-execution-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/currency-switcher/wordpress-wpcs-wordpress-currency-switcher-professional-plugin-1-2-0-3-arbitrary-shortcode-execution-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
