dbcve.org
Code InjectionWeakness · CWE-94

CVE-2024-10952

HIGH · 7.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
82/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The The Authors List plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution via update_authors_list_ajax AJAX action in all versions up to, and including, 2.0.4. This is due to the software allowing users to execute an action that does not properly validate a value before running do_shortcode. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Authors List WordPress plugin (versions up to 2.0.4) has an unauthenticated AJAX action (update_authors_list_ajax) that passes user-supplied input directly to do_shortcode() without validating or sanitizing the value first, allowing attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 2.0.5 or later which contains proper input validation. Until updated, consider disabling the plugin or blocking the affected AJAX endpoint at the web server level.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Authors List plugin is installed
    Log in to WordPress admin panel, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, and look for 'Authors List' in the list of active or inactive plugins.
    Affected if The plugin is present in the plugins directory regardless of active/inactive status.
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In the WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins, click on the plugin name 'Authors List' to view its details, or inspect the plugin header in /wp-content/plugins/authors-list/authors-list.php for the 'Version' field.
    Affected if The version number displayed is 2.0.4 or lower.
  3. Verify AJAX endpoint is accessible
    Check if the WordPress site responds to the AJAX action by making a GET or POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=update_authors_list_ajax. This can be tested using curl: curl -s -o /dev/null -w '%{http_code}' 'https://YOURSITE/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=update_authors_list_ajax'
    Affected if The server returns an HTTP 200 response (even if the response body indicates an error, a 200 status means the action is registered and reachable).
  4. Test unauthenticated access to the AJAX action
    Send a request to the AJAX endpoint without providing authentication cookies or valid nonce, for example: curl -X POST 'https://YOURSITE/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php' -d 'action=update_authors_list_ajax' -d 'shortcode=[any_shortcode_here]'
    Affected if The server processes the request and returns a response (rather than rejecting it with a 401/403 or requiring login), indicating the action is accessible to unauthenticated users.

A user is affected if the Authors List plugin version is 2.0.4 or lower AND the update_authors_list_ajax AJAX endpoint is accessible without authentication.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the plugin to version 2.0.5 or later which contains proper input validation. Until updated, consider disabling the plugin or blocking the affected AJAX endpoint at the web server level.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

The Authors List plugin version 2.0.5 or later

  1. Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins
  2. Locate 'The Authors List' plugin and check the current version
  3. If the installed version is 2.0.4 or below, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the latest version
  4. Alternatively, download version 2.0.5 or later from wordpress.org/plugins/the-authors-list and upload manually
  5. After updating, verify the version number reflects the upgrade

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,370
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-10952 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data