CVE-2024-51649
📋 TL;DR
A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Patrick Lumumba Mobilize WordPress plugin allows attackers to perform stored cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. This affects WordPress sites using the Mobilize plugin from any version up to and including 3.0.7. Attackers can trick authenticated administrators into executing malicious actions that inject persistent scripts.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress Patrick Lumumba Mobilize 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 inject malicious JavaScript that steals administrator credentials, redirects users to malicious sites, or takes full control of the WordPress site when administrators view compromised pages.
Likely Case
Attackers create fake forms or links that trick logged-in administrators into unknowingly submitting requests that inject malicious scripts into site content, leading to session hijacking or defacement.
If Mitigated
With proper CSRF tokens and input validation, the attack would fail as unauthorized requests would be rejected before reaching the vulnerable code.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires social engineering to trick authenticated users. The vulnerability chain (CSRF leading to stored XSS) is well-documented and weaponization is likely given the prevalence of WordPress attacks.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.0.8 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/mobilize/wordpress-mobilize-plugin-3-0-7-csrf-to-stored-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Mobilize' plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 3.0.8+ from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Mobilize Plugin
allTemporarily disable the vulnerable plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate mobilize
Implement CSRF Protection Headers
linuxAdd security headers to WordPress to help prevent CSRF attacks
Add to .htaccess: Header set X-Frame-Options "DENY"
Add to .htaccess: Header set Content-Security-Policy "frame-ancestors 'none'"
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable the Mobilize plugin immediately
- Implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to block CSRF attempts and XSS payloads
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for Mobilize plugin version. If version is 3.0.7 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get mobilize --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify the plugin version shows 3.0.8 or later in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to Mobilize plugin endpoints from unexpected referrers
- Administrator sessions with suspicious activity patterns
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing malicious script payloads in parameters
- CSRF attempts with missing or invalid nonce/token values
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND (plugin="mobilize" AND (method="POST" AND (referrer NOT CONTAINS "your-domain.com" OR user_agent="malicious-bot")))