The Mortgage Calculator / Loan Calculator plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's 'mlcalc' shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 1.5.20 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
The severity of this vulnerability is classified as medium with a CVSS score of 6.4. Organizations must recognize that this vulnerability poses real-world risks, as it allows attackers to execute scripts in the context of a user's session.
Given the ease of exploitation and potential impact, organizations should prioritize patching immediately. This vulnerability could lead to significant integrity and confidentiality issues, especially for sites that rely heavily on user-generated content.
Currently, there are no known public exploits for this vulnerability, but the risk remains due to the nature of the injection. Organizations should monitor developments closely.
In summary, the urgency for defenders is high, and organizations should address this vulnerability in their priority patch cycle.
Vulnerability Details
The Mortgage Calculator / Loan Calculator plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's 'mlcalc' shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 1.5.20 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes. This vulnerability is classified under CWE-79.
The CVSS score for this vulnerability is 6.4, indicating a medium severity. The attack vector is network-based, with low complexity and low privileges required for exploitation.
Technical Analysis
The root cause of this vulnerability is insufficient input sanitization and output escaping in the 'mlcalc' shortcode. Attackers can exploit this by injecting scripts into pages viewed by users, leading to potential session hijacking or redirection.
The attack vector is network-based, requiring an attacker to have contributor-level access or higher. The attack complexity is low; thus, exploitation can occur with minimal effort.
Risk & Impact Analysis
Real-world deployment risks involve unauthorized script execution, potentially leading to data theft or website defacement. The blast radius could affect all users interacting with the compromised pages, raising significant privacy and trust concerns.
Organizations should assess their exposure to this vulnerability, especially if they utilize the Mortgage Calculator plugin. The urgency assessment based on CVSS indicates that organizations should address this issue in their priority patch cycle.
Exploitation Status
Signal | Status |
|---|---|
Known Exploit | No |
Public PoC | No |
Actively Exploited | No |
Ransomware Use | No |
Affected Versions
All versions of the Mortgage Calculator / Loan Calculator plugin for WordPress prior to version 1.5.20 are affected. Organizations should ensure that they upgrade to the latest version to mitigate this vulnerability.
Mitigation & Remediation
Organizations should apply the latest update for the Mortgage Calculator plugin to address this vulnerability. Regularly updating plugins is a critical practice in maintaining application security.
In addition, organizations can implement input validation and output encoding practices to further reduce the risk of similar vulnerabilities. Monitoring web traffic for unusual activity can also help in early detection of any exploitation attempts.
For further guidance, organizations may consult our penetration testing services to assess their security posture.
Detection Guidance
Organizations should monitor their logs for any indications of unusual access patterns or script injection attempts. Behavioral anomalies in user sessions may also signal exploitation of this vulnerability.
AppSecure Threat Intelligence Insight
The long-term significance of this vulnerability lies in the importance of input validation and output encoding in web applications. Security teams should recognize this pattern as a common risk in web development.
Organizations can learn from this case to implement more robust security practices, including regular audits and security testing. For more information on best practices, organizations can refer to our penetration testing methodology blog.
Understanding how similar vulnerabilities arise can help teams better defend against future attacks. Organizations are encouraged to stay updated on the latest security trends by following our vulnerability management program resources.
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
.webp)