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Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)Weakness · CWE-352

CVE-2024-51655

HIGH · 7.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-11-19
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
78/100
Remediation priority · High
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
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in microkid Custom Author URL author-slug allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Custom Author URL: from n/a through <= 2.0.1.

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

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the microkid Custom Author URL WordPress plugin allows authenticated attackers to inject malicious JavaScript via the author-slug parameter through forged requests, resulting in Stored XSS that executes when administrators view author pages.

MitigationImplement WordPress nonces (anti-CSRF tokens) on all state-changing forms and AJAX actions, and ensure proper output escaping/sanitization of the author-slug before rendering.

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

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

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify the Custom Author URL plugin is installed
    Check the WordPress plugins directory for the microkid Custom Author URL plugin. Look in wp-content/plugins/ for a folder named 'custom-author-url' or similar, and read the main plugin file to find the installed version number.
    Affected if The plugin folder exists and contains the microkid Custom Author URL plugin files.
  2. Determine the installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin PHP file (usually custom-author-url.php) and locate the version comment or constant. Compare this version against any known affected versions from the plugin repository.
    Affected if The installed version matches the version range known to contain CVE-2024-51655.
  3. Inspect the author-slug database entries for malicious content
    Query the WordPress database (typically the wp_usermeta table) for meta_key 'author_slug' or similar custom author URL fields. Examine the meta_value for suspicious patterns such as <script, javascript:, onload=, onerror=, or other HTML/JavaScript injection attempts.
    Affected if The author_slug meta_value contains unsanitized HTML or JavaScript code.
  4. Check WordPress nonce implementation in plugin forms
    Examine the plugin source code for form handlers and AJAX actions that process the author-slug parameter. Look for the presence of wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer calls. Also inspect if the author-slug is properly sanitized using functions like sanitize_text_field, esc_attr, or esc_html before database storage.
    Affected if The plugin processes the author-slug without verifying WordPress nonces and without sanitizing/escaping the input before storage.
  5. Review author pages for unexpected script execution
    As an administrator, navigate to user profile pages or author archive pages. View the page source and check for any injected JavaScript in author-related fields that was not explicitly set by an administrator.
    Affected if Unexpected script tags or event handlers appear in author-related page content.

You are affected if the microkid Custom Author URL plugin is installed and processes the author-slug parameter without proper CSRF protection (nonces) and without sanitizing/escaping the input, resulting in stored malicious scripts in the database.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement WordPress nonces (anti-CSRF tokens) on all state-changing forms and AJAX actions, and ensure proper output escaping/sanitization of the author-slug before rendering.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Update to the latest version of Custom Author URL plugin (version higher than 2.0.1) when available

  1. Check the current version of the Custom Author URL plugin installed on your WordPress site
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in the WordPress admin dashboard
  3. Locate the Custom Author URL plugin and note the current version number
  4. Access the official WordPress plugin repository or the developer's website to identify the latest available version
  5. If a version newer than 2.0.1 is available, update the plugin to that latest version through WordPress admin or via FTP
  6. After updating, verify the plugin functions correctly and test the author slug functionality
  7. Review the plugin settings to ensure no malicious configurations were introduced
Caveat Check changelog for any breaking changes before updating in production environments

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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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-2024-51655 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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
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