CVE-2024-13738
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 Motors - Car Dealer, Rental & Listing WordPress theme theme for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 5.6.65. 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. *It is unclear exactly which version the issue was patched in from the changelog. Therefore, we used the latest version at the time of verification.
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 Motors WordPress theme fails to validate user input before passing it to do_shortcode(), allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject and execute arbitrary shortcodes. This shortcode injection can be leveraged to output malicious content, potentially access sensitive data, or trigger other theme/plugin functions depending on what shortcodes are registered.
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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Identify Motors theme versionIn WordPress admin, go to Appearance > Themes and locate the Motors theme to view the version number. Alternatively, check /wp-content/themes/motors/style.css for the 'Version:' header in the theme comments.Affected if The installed version is lower than the patched version (the vendor has not disclosed the exact fixed version) and the theme is active.
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Locate do_shortcode calls in theme filesSearch theme PHP files for the pattern do_shortcode( and examine whether any user-controlled input (from $_GET, $_POST, $_REQUEST, or URL parameters) is being passed directly to this function.Affected if User input from request parameters is being passed directly to do_shortcode() without sanitization.
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Identify exposed shortcode rendering pointsReview theme templates and ajax handlers to identify endpoints where shortcodes are processed, especially those accessible to unauthenticated users (no login required).Affected if Shortcode processing endpoints are accessible without authentication and accept user input.
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Test for shortcode injection via URL parametersCraft a request to the site with common shortcode-triggering parameters (such as ?shortcode= or parameters used by the theme's search/filter functionality) containing a test shortcode like [wp_emoji_test].Affected if The test shortcode is rendered in the response, indicating unsanitized input is passed to do_shortcode.
You are affected if the Motors theme is active, the version is below the patched release, and user-supplied input can reach do_shortcode() without validation.
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 Motors theme to the latest version once the patch is released, and ensure proper input validation is implemented around any do_shortcode() calls.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-13738 — 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-2024-13738 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