CVE-2024-1989 identifies a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share for WordPress, versions up to and including 3.3.58. The vulnerability stems from insufficient sanitization and escaping of user input within the 'Sassy_Social_Share' shortcode, specifically the 'url' attribute. This flaw allows authenticated users with contributor-level or higher permissions to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into pages or posts. When other users access these pages, the injected scripts execute in their browsers, potentially compromising session tokens, cookies, or enabling unauthorized actions on behalf of the victim. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation). Exploitation does not require user interaction beyond visiting the affected page, and the attack surface includes any WordPress site using the vulnerable plugin version. The CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N) indicates network exploitability with low attack complexity, requiring privileges of a contributor or higher, no user interaction, and impacts confidentiality and integrity with a scope change. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the vulnerability's presence in a widely used plugin makes it a significant concern for WordPress site administrators.

The vulnerability allows attackers with contributor-level access to inject persistent malicious scripts that execute in the browsers of any user viewing the infected pages. This can lead to theft of authentication cookies, session hijacking, unauthorized actions performed with victim privileges, and potential defacement or misinformation. Since the scope is changed, the impact extends beyond the initially compromised component, potentially affecting the entire WordPress site and its users. Organizations relying on this plugin risk compromise of user accounts, loss of data confidentiality, and erosion of user trust. The vulnerability does not directly affect availability but can indirectly cause service disruption through site defacement or administrative account compromise. Given the widespread use of WordPress and the popularity of social sharing plugins, the threat is significant for websites that allow contributor-level user roles, including blogs, news sites, and community platforms.

Administrators should immediately update the Social Sharing Plugin – Sassy Social Share to a patched version once available. Until a patch is released, restrict contributor-level permissions to trusted users only and consider temporarily disabling the plugin if possible. Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block suspicious input patterns targeting the 'url' attribute in the shortcode. Employ Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to limit the execution of unauthorized scripts. Regularly audit user-generated content for injected scripts and sanitize inputs at the application level. Educate content contributors about the risks of injecting untrusted content and monitor logs for unusual activity. Additionally, ensure WordPress core and all plugins are kept up to date to reduce exposure to similar vulnerabilities.