CVE-2024-13812

Vulnerability

Overview The Anps Theme plugin for WordPress, versions up to and including 1.1.1, contains a vulnerability that allows arbitrary shortcode execution. The issue stems from the plugin's failure to properly validate a value before passing it to the do_shortcode function [1]. This lack of validation means that any user-supplied input can be processed as a shortcode without proper authorization checks.

Exploitation

Details An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this vulnerability by sending a crafted request to the vulnerable endpoint. No authentication or special privileges are required, making the attack surface broad for any WordPress site running the affected plugin. The attacker simply needs to trigger the action that invokes do_shortcode with the unvalidated value.

Impact

Successful exploitation allows the attacker to execute arbitrary shortcodes within the WordPress context. Depending on the available shortcodes, this could lead to reading sensitive data, modifying site content, or potentially executing code if dangerous shortcodes are present. The exact impact varies based on the installed plugins and themes that register shortcodes.

Mitigation

As of the publication date, no official patch has been confirmed. Users are advised to disable or remove the Anps Theme plugin until a security update is released. Alternatively, implementing a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block malicious shortcode injection attempts may provide temporary protection.