dbcve.org
Meks Smart Author WidgetWordPress extension · Mekshq

CVE-2024-37958

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-07-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.1.5 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (XSS or 'Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Meks Meks Smart Author Widget allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Meks Smart Author Widget: from n/a through 1.1.4.

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 · moderate confidence

Stored XSS vulnerability in Meks Smart Author Widget allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript through unsanitized input fields. The injected payload executes when other users view pages displaying the author widget.

MitigationUpgrade to version 1.1.5 or later which includes proper input sanitization and output encoding. Until then, restrict widget usage to trusted users only.

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
Meks Smart Author WidgetWordPress extension
Affected:< 1.1.5

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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. Check installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate 'Meks Smart Author Widget'. The version number is displayed below the plugin name. Alternatively, check the main plugin file (meks-smart-author-widget.php) for the 'Version' header comment.
    Affected if Version is displayed as lower than 1.1.5 or the version field is missing entirely (indicating an old unversioned release)
  2. Verify widget is active on site
    Check pages and posts for the presence of the author widget by viewing the site or inspecting sidebar/widget areas in Appearance > Widgets. Also check for any shortcode usage like [meks_author] in page content.
    Affected if The widget is actively displayed on any public-facing page or post
  3. Inspect author profile input fields
    Navigate to Users > Profile (or Users > Author in some setups) in WordPress admin. Look at the fields that the Meks Smart Author Widget uses (typically bio, display name, or custom author fields). View the page source to see if these fields are being rendered with proper encoding.
    Affected if Author profile fields contain raw/unsanitized output (visible HTML tags in the rendered output) or if you can view the raw HTML in the page source without proper escaping of special characters like < > " '
  4. Check for existing XSS payloads
    View the HTML source of pages displaying the author widget. Search for script tags, event handlers (onclick, onload, onerror), or javascript: URLs that may have been injected into author fields.
    Affected if Any malicious script tags or JavaScript event handlers are found in the rendered author widget output

User is affected if the plugin version is below 1.1.5 AND the author widget is being used on any page or post visible to other users.

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 1.1.5 or later
Fixed in 1.1.5
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to version 1.1.5 or later which includes proper input sanitization and output encoding. Until then, restrict widget usage to trusted users only.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.1.5

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Find 'Meks Smart Author Widget' in the plugin list
  4. Check if the current version is below 1.1.5
  5. If update available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 1.1.5
  6. Alternatively, download version 1.1.5 from the WordPress Plugin Repository and upload/install it manually
  7. Verify the plugin updated successfully by checking the version number

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

Fix this in Meks Smart Author Widget Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-37958 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2024-37958 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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