dbcve.org
GhacitivityWordPress extension · Automattic

CVE-2024-43949

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-08-29
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.5.0 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 Automattic GHActivity allows Stored XSS.This issue affects GHActivity: from n/a through 2.0.0-alpha.

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 Automattic GHActivity plugin where user-supplied input is not properly sanitized before being rendered in web pages, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts that execute in victims' browsers.

MitigationImplement proper input validation and output encoding using context-appropriate escaping functions (such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses() for WordPress) when displaying any user-generated content.

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
GhacitivityWordPress extension
Affected:= 2.0.0
GhactivityWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.5.0

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 GHActivity plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for GHActivity or Ghactivity. The version number is displayed below the plugin name. Alternatively, inspect the plugin main file (e.g., ghactivity.php) and look for the 'Version' header in the plugin comments.
    Affected if Installed version is 2.0.0 or 1.5.0 or lower.
  2. Confirm plugin is active
    Verify the GHActivity plugin is enabled and running on the WordPress site. In the Plugins admin page, ensure the plugin shows as 'Active' rather than 'Inactive' or 'Network Active'.
    Affected if The plugin is active and running.
  3. Identify if GitHub activity display is in use
    Check if the site uses shortcodes, widgets, or template tags that display GitHub activity data fetched by the plugin (e.g., [ghactivity] shortcode, or activity widgets in sidebar/footer areas).
    Affected if GitHub activity feeds are being displayed on publicly accessible pages.
  4. Inspect user input handling in plugin code
    If you have file access, examine the plugin PHP files for output of user-supplied or GitHub-sourced data (search for functions like 'echo', 'print', or 'printf' without corresponding escaping functions such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses()).
    Affected if User-generated content or GitHub data is being output without proper sanitization functions.

You are affected if the GHActivity plugin version is 2.0.0 or 1.5.0 or lower, the plugin is active, and your site displays GitHub activity content that could contain unsanitized user input.

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 a release after 1.5.0
Interim mitigation

Implement proper input validation and output encoding using context-appropriate escaping functions (such as esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses() for WordPress) when displaying any user-generated content.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Upgrade to the latest GHActivity release (version after 2.0.0-alpha)

  1. 1. Update the GHActivity plugin to the latest available version beyond 2.0.0-alpha, as versions through 2.0.0-alpha contain the stored XSS vulnerability
  2. 2. After updating, verify the fix by checking that user-supplied input in GHActivity is properly sanitized before being displayed in the web interface
  3. 3. Review any custom code or integrations with GHActivity to ensure they do not introduce additional XSS vectors
  4. 4. Consider implementing Content Security Policy (CSP) headers as an additional defense-in-depth measure against XSS attacks

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

Fix this in Ghacitivity Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,130
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,408.

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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-2024-43949 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