CVE-2024-1401: profile box shortcode and widget vulnerability

What is known

The Profile Box Shortcode And Widget WordPress plugin before 1.2.1 does not sanitise and escape some of its settings, which could allow high privilege users such as admin to perform Stored Cross-Site Scripting attacks even when the unfiltered_html capability is disallowed (for example in multisite setup)

Business impact

Successful exploitation of CVE-2024-1401, a medium vulnerability (CVSS 4.8) affecting profile box shortcode and widget, may affect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of the vulnerable environment. The exact impact depends on the installed version, exposed interfaces and deployment configuration.

Recommended administrator action

Confirm whether profile box shortcode and widget is present and compare installed versions with the vendor advisory and NVD record. Apply the vendor patch or documented mitigation; until remediation is complete, reduce exposure of affected interfaces, review relevant logs and monitor for indicators of exploitation. DataHouse can support version verification, managed patching, network exposure reduction, log review and backup validation for dedicated, cloud and colocated environments.

Sources

• NVD
• Reference