CVE-2024-13495
Published: 22 January 2025
Summary
CVE-2024-13495 is a high-severity Code Injection (CWE-94) vulnerability in Gamipress Gamipress. Its CVSS base score is 7.3 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked in the top 25.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 RA-5 (Vulnerability Monitoring and Scanning) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2024-13495 is an arbitrary shortcode execution vulnerability in the GamiPress – Gamification plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 7.2.1. The issue resides in the gamipress_ajax_get_logs() function within the plugin's AJAX handlers, where a user-supplied value is passed to WordPress's do_shortcode() without proper validation, enabling execution of arbitrary shortcodes. This flaw is classified under CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code) and carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L).
Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low attack complexity and no user interaction or privileges required. By sending a crafted request to the gamipress_ajax_get_logs() endpoint, they can inject and execute arbitrary shortcodes, potentially compromising site confidentiality, integrity, or availability to a low degree depending on the shortcode's capabilities.
Patches and mitigation details are referenced in WordPress plugin trac resources, including the vulnerable code at line 39 of ajax-functions.php and the fix in changeset 3226227. Additional guidance appears in the GamiPress developers section on wordpress.org/plugins/gamipress and Wordfence threat intelligence at their vulnerability page. Security practitioners should update affected installations immediately.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2024-51631
Vulnerability details
The The GamiPress – Gamification plugin to reward points, achievements, badges & ranks in WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution via the gamipress_ajax_get_logs() function in all versions up to, and including, 7.2.1. This is due to…
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the software allowing users to execute an action that does not properly validate a value before running do_shortcode. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Direct remote unauthenticated exploitation of a public-facing WordPress plugin via arbitrary shortcode injection (CWE-94) in an AJAX endpoint.
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Directly addresses the lack of validation on user-supplied input to gamipress_ajax_get_logs() before calling do_shortcode, preventing arbitrary shortcode execution.
Requires timely identification, reporting, and correction of the flaw in the plugin's AJAX handler, mitigating the vulnerability through patching.
Scans for vulnerabilities like this arbitrary shortcode execution in WordPress plugins and remediates them per defined timeframes.