CVE-2024-8271
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary WordPress shortcodes through the FOX – Currency Switcher Professional for WooCommerce plugin. Attackers can potentially execute malicious code, access sensitive data, or modify site content. All WordPress sites using this plugin up to version 1.4.2.1 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- FOX – Currency Switcher Professional for WooCommerce WordPress plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Remote code execution leading to complete site compromise, data theft, malware installation, or site defacement.
Likely Case
Unauthorized content modification, privilege escalation, or data exfiltration through shortcode execution.
If Mitigated
Limited impact if shortcode execution is restricted by security plugins or hardened WordPress configurations.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires crafting malicious shortcode payloads. No authentication required.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.4.2.2 or later
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'FOX – Currency Switcher Professional for WooCommerce'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 1.4.2.2+ from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable function via filter
allAdd WordPress filter to disable the vulnerable woocs_get_custom_price_html function
Add to theme's functions.php or custom plugin: add_filter('woocs_get_custom_price_html', '__return_false');
Temporarily deactivate plugin
linuxDisable the plugin until patched version is available
wp plugin deactivate woocommerce-currency-switcher
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to block shortcode execution attempts
- Restrict access to affected endpoints using .htaccess or nginx configuration
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check plugin version in WordPress admin under Plugins → Installed Plugins. If version is 1.4.2.1 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get woocommerce-currency-switcher --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is 1.4.2.2 or higher. Test currency switcher functionality to ensure it still works properly.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to WooCommerce endpoints with shortcode parameters
- WordPress debug.log entries showing shortcode execution errors
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing [shortcode] patterns in parameters
- Unusual traffic to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with woocs actions
SIEM Query:
SELECT * FROM web_logs WHERE url LIKE '%woocs_get_custom_price_html%' OR (params CONTAINS '[' AND params CONTAINS ']')🔗 References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/woocommerce-currency-switcher/tags/1.4.2.1/classes/woocs.php#L4604
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=3150596%40woocommerce-currency-switcher&new=3150596%40woocommerce-currency-switcher&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/dec51bd6-2ffe-47b6-9423-6131395bf439?source=cve
