CVE-2024-53736
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 · uneditedCross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Jason Grim Custom Shortcode Sidebars custom-shortcode-sidebars allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Custom Shortcode Sidebars: from n/a through <= 1.2.
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 confidenceCSRF vulnerability in the Custom Shortcode Sidebars WordPress plugin allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into submitting malicious requests that store XSS payloads. The lack of proper nonce verification on form submissions and AJAX endpoints enables cross-site request forgery, leading to persistent cross-site scripting when the injected content is rendered.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate the Custom Shortcode Sidebars plugin installationCheck if the plugin directory exists at wp-content/plugins/custom-shortcode-sidebars/ via file manager or FTPAffected if The plugin directory does not exist (not installed)
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Identify the installed plugin versionOpen the main plugin PHP file (typically custom-shortcode-sidebars.php) and locate the Version header in the plugin comment block, or check readme.txt for the version fieldAffected if The installed version is unknown or falls within a vulnerable range before nonce verification was added
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Verify the plugin is activeIn the WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and check if Custom Shortcode Sidebars is activatedAffected if The plugin is not active (the vulnerability cannot be exploited)
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Inspect form submissions for nonce verificationExamine the plugin source code for form handlers (in admin settings pages and AJAX endpoints) and check if wp_nonce_field() or check_admin_referer() are present on POST form submissionsAffected if No nonce verification is found in form processing code (vulnerable to CSRF)
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Check AJAX endpoints for nonce validationSearch the plugin PHP files for admin-ajax.php handlers and verify if nonces are validated using check_ajax_referer() or wp_verify_nonce() before processing requestsAffected if AJAX endpoints lack nonce validation (vulnerable to CSRF)
The environment is affected if the Custom Shortcode Sidebars plugin is installed, active, and the source code shows missing nonce verification on form submissions or AJAX endpoints that handle shortcode sidebar configurations.
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 dataAdd nonce verification to all form submissions and AJAX endpoints, implement proper output escaping when rendering shortcode sidebar content, and consider adding a CSRF token to all admin actions.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 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 $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2024-53736 — 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-2024-53736 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