Ninja FormsWordPress extension · Ninjaforms
CVE-2024-12238
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 · uneditedThe The Ninja Forms – The Contact Form Builder That Grows With You plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 3.8.22. 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 authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, 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 confidenceThe Ninja Forms WordPress plugin (versions up to 3.8.22) contains an arbitrary shortcode execution vulnerability. The plugin fails to properly validate a user-supplied value before passing it to PHP's do_shortcode() function. This allows any authenticated user with Subscriber-level access or higher to inject and execute arbitrary shortcodes, potentially leading to data exposure or further site compromise.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
Ninja FormsWordPress extension
< 3.8.23CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify installed Ninja Forms versionAccess the WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, locate Ninja Forms, and note the version number displayed. Alternatively, inspect the plugin's main PHP file header for the 'Version' tag.Affected if The version listed is below 3.8.23 (for example, 3.8.22, 3.8.21, etc.)
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Confirm user registration is enabledGo to WordPress admin > Settings > General and check if the 'Membership' setting 'Anyone can register' is enabled. If using a membership plugin, check its registration settings.Affected if Anyone can register is enabled, allowing potential attackers to create Subscriber-level accounts
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Review existing user accounts with Subscriber roleNavigate to WordPress admin > Users and examine the list of users. Filter or scroll to identify accounts assigned the Subscriber role, especially those created recently or with suspicious usernames.Affected if There are Subscriber accounts that should not have site access, or unknown Subscriber accounts exist
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Check for unusual shortcode usage in form submissionsIf available, inspect Ninja Forms submissions in the WordPress admin under Ninja Forms > Submissions. Look for entries containing square bracket syntax like [shortcode] in form fields.Affected if Form submissions contain raw shortcode syntax (e.g., [wp-admin], [shortcode], etc.) indicating exploitation attempts
A user is affected if their Ninja Forms plugin version is below 3.8.23 AND they have enabled user registration or have existing Subscriber-level accounts that could exploit this vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped3.8.23
Upgrade to Ninja Forms version 3.8.23 or later which includes proper input validation before calling do_shortcode(). Until then, limit user registration or consider disabling the plugin if untrusted users have site access.
Ninja Forms version 3.8.23
- 1. Back up your WordPress database and files before making any changes
- 2. Navigate to Dashboard > Plugins in the WordPress admin area
- 3. Find 'Ninja Forms' in the plugin list
- 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 3.8.23 or later
- 5. Alternatively, download version 3.8.23 from wordpress.org/plugins/ninja-forms/ and upload it manually via Dashboard > Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
- 6. After updating, verify the plugin version shows 3.8.23 or higher under Plugins > Installed Plugins
- 7. Test your existing forms to ensure they still function correctly
- 8. Review user roles on your site - ensure only trusted users have Subscriber-level or higher access, as this vulnerability can be exploited by any authenticated user with such permissions
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Ninja Forms
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-12238 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2024-12238 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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