CVE-2024-11974 is a reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability identified in the Media Library Assistant plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 3.23. The vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization and escaping of user-supplied input in three URL parameters: ‘smc_settings_tab’, ‘unattachfixit-action’, and ‘woofixit-action’. Because these parameters are processed and reflected in web pages without proper neutralization, an attacker can inject arbitrary JavaScript code. This malicious code executes in the context of the victim’s browser when they interact with a crafted link or URL, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability is exploitable remotely over the network without any authentication, but it requires user interaction (clicking a malicious link). The CVSS 3.1 base score of 6.1 reflects a medium severity, with attack vector network (AV:N), low attack complexity (AC:L), no privileges required (PR:N), user interaction required (UI:R), scope changed (S:C), and impacts on confidentiality and integrity but not availability. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the vulnerability poses a significant risk to websites using this plugin, especially given WordPress’s widespread use. The lack of a patch link suggests that a fix may not yet be available, emphasizing the need for immediate mitigation steps.

The primary impact of this vulnerability is the potential for attackers to execute arbitrary scripts in the browsers of users visiting vulnerable WordPress sites. This can lead to theft of session cookies, enabling account takeover, unauthorized actions on behalf of users, or redirection to phishing or malware sites. Although availability is not affected, the confidentiality and integrity of user data and site content can be compromised. For organizations, this can result in reputational damage, loss of customer trust, and potential regulatory penalties if user data is exposed. Since the vulnerability requires no authentication, any visitor can be targeted, increasing the attack surface. The scope change in CVSS indicates that the vulnerability can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component, potentially impacting the entire web application. Given WordPress’s dominant market share in content management systems, many organizations worldwide are at risk if they use this plugin without mitigation.

1. Immediate mitigation should include disabling or removing the Media Library Assistant plugin until a patch is available. 2. If disabling is not feasible, implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block requests containing suspicious payloads in the affected parameters (‘smc_settings_tab’, ‘unattachfixit-action’, ‘woofixit-action’). 3. Educate users and administrators about the risks of clicking unknown or suspicious links, especially those targeting the affected plugin parameters. 4. Monitor web server logs for unusual requests targeting these parameters to detect potential exploitation attempts. 5. Apply Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of inline scripts and reduce the impact of XSS attacks. 6. Regularly update WordPress and all plugins, and subscribe to vendor advisories for timely patch releases. 7. Conduct security audits and penetration testing focused on input validation and output encoding in custom plugins and themes to prevent similar vulnerabilities.