CVE-2024-13453
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 Contact Form & SMTP Plugin for WordPress by PirateForms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 2.6.0. 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 confidenceThe PirateForms WordPress plugin has an arbitrary shortcode injection vulnerability where an unauthenticated user can trigger the do_shortcode() function with unsanitized input through a plugin action. This allows attackers to execute any registered shortcode, potentially exposing sensitive functionality or data.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm PirateForms plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and look for 'PirateForms' in the installed plugins list, or inspect the directory wp-content/plugins/pirate-forms/ via file systemAffected if PirateForms plugin is present and active in the WordPress installation
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Identify the installed versionOpen the plugin main file (pirate-forms.php) or readme.txt in wp-content/plugins/pirate-forms/ and locate the version declaration (e.g., Version: x.x.x)Affected if The version is lower than 2.6.1 (the patched version)
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Verify the vulnerable plugin action is accessibleReview the plugin source code for actions that call do_shortcode() with unsanitized $_GET, $_POST, or $_REQUEST parameters; test by sending a request with a shortcode payload to suspected endpointsAffected if The plugin exposes an action that passes user input directly to do_shortcode() without sanitization
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Check for signs of exploitation attemptsReview web server access logs and WordPress audit logs for requests containing shortcode patterns (e.g., [contact-form-7, [wp-meta, [ajax) to suspicious parameter namesAffected if Log entries show shortcode execution attempts through the PirateForms plugin action
You are affected if PirateForms plugin is installed with a version lower than 2.6.1 AND the vulnerable action that passes unsanitized input to do_shortcode() is exposed and accessible to unauthenticated users.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate the plugin to version 2.6.1 or later if available; otherwise deactivate the plugin until a patch is released. Consider deploying a WAF rule to detect and block attempts to exploit shortcode injection parameters.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-13453 — 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-2024-13453 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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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.
- 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