dbcve.org
Contact Form 7WordPress extension · Rocklobster

CVE-2024-2242

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-03-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.9.2 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 Contact Form 7 plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the ‘active-tab’ parameter in all versions up to, and including, 5.9 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that execute if they can successfully trick a user into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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 Contact Form 7 WordPress plugin versions up to 5.9 contain a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability in the 'active-tab' parameter. Insufficient input sanitization allows malicious scripts to be injected via the parameter, and inadequate output escaping causes the payload to execute in the victim's browser when they click a crafted link.

MitigationUpdate Contact Form 7 to version 5.9.1 or later, which includes proper sanitization of the 'active-tab' parameter and appropriate output escaping. Alternatively, implement WAF rules to block XSS payloads in URL parameters until the plugin can be updated.

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
Contact Form 7WordPress extension
Affected:< 5.9.2

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

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. Locate the Contact Form 7 plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and find Contact Form 7. The version number is displayed below the plugin name. Alternatively, access the site via FTP or file manager and open /wp-content/plugins/contact-form-7/readme.txt - the version is listed in the file header.
    Affected if The displayed version is below 5.9.2 (such as 5.9, 5.8.x, or earlier)
  2. Verify the plugin is active
    In WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins, confirm that Contact Form 7 shows as 'Active' under the plugin status column.
    Affected if The plugin is active and the version is below 5.9.2 - an inactive plugin with the vulnerability present would not be exploitable
  3. Confirm the WordPress environment
    Access the WordPress admin dashboard and verify you have administrator access to view plugin details.
    Affected if You are running an unpatched version of Contact Form 7 on WordPress with the plugin enabled

Your environment is affected if Contact Form 7 is installed, active, and running a version lower than 5.9.2, making the reflected XSS in the active-tab parameter exploitable.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to 5.9.2 or later
Fixed in 5.9.2
Interim mitigation

Update Contact Form 7 to version 5.9.1 or later, which includes proper sanitization of the 'active-tab' parameter and appropriate output escaping. Alternatively, implement WAF rules to block XSS payloads in URL parameters until the plugin can be updated.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.9.2

  1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate Contact Form 7 in the plugin list
  4. Click 'Update Now' if an update is available, or manually download version 5.9.2 from wordpress.org/plugins/contact-form-7/
  5. If manual update: go to Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin, upload the zip file, and click 'Replace current with uploaded'
  6. Verify the update was successful by checking the plugin version shows 5.9.2 or higher

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

Fix this in Contact Form 7 Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

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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-2024-2242 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