CVE-2024-8981 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2024-8981
Vulnerability Scoring

7.1
/10
Very High Risk

Highly exploitable, CVE-2024-8981 poses a critical security risk that could lead to severe breaches.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: Low
    Exploits can be performed without significant complexity or special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Changed
    Successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: Required
    User interaction is necessary for successful exploitation.

CVE-2024-8981 Details

Status: Awaiting Analysis

Last updated: 🕜 04 Oct 2024, 13:51 UTC
Originally published on: 🕒 01 Oct 2024, 03:15 UTC

Time between publication and last update: 3 days

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

security@wordfence.com

CVSS3 Type

Primary

CVSS3 Vector

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

CVE-2024-8981 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2024-8981: The Broken Link Checker plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting due to the use of add_query_arg in /app/admin-notices/features/class-view.php without appropriate escaping on the URL in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.0. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that execute if they can successfully trick a user into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2024-8981

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2024-8981 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2024-8981

With low attack complexity and no required privileges, CVE-2024-8981 is an easy target for cybercriminals. Organizations should prioritize immediate mitigation measures to prevent unauthorized access and data breaches.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2024-8981, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2024-8981, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: Low
    CVE-2024-8981 could lead to minor leaks of non-critical information without major privacy breaches.
  • Integrity: Low
    Exploiting CVE-2024-8981 may cause minor changes to data without severely impacting its accuracy.
  • Availability: Low
    CVE-2024-8981 may slightly degrade system performance without fully affecting service availability.

Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS)

The EPSS score estimates the probability that this vulnerability will be exploited in the near future.

EPSS Score: 0.052% (probability of exploit)

EPSS Percentile: 23.98% (lower percentile = lower relative risk)
This vulnerability is less risky than approximately 76.02% of others.

CVE-2024-8981 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-80

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • XSS Targeting Non-Script Elements CAPEC-18 This attack is a form of Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) where malicious scripts are embedded in elements that are not expected to host scripts such as image tags (<img>), comments in XML documents (< !-CDATA->), etc. These tags may not be subject to the same input validation, output validation, and other content filtering and checking routines, so this can create an opportunity for an adversary to tunnel through the application's elements and launch a XSS attack through other elements. As with all remote attacks, it is important to differentiate the ability to launch an attack (such as probing an internal network for unpatched servers) and the ability of the remote adversary to collect and interpret the output of said attack.
  • PHP Remote File Inclusion CAPEC-193 In this pattern the adversary is able to load and execute arbitrary code remotely available from the application. This is usually accomplished through an insecurely configured PHP runtime environment and an improperly sanitized "include" or "require" call, which the user can then control to point to any web-accessible file. This allows adversaries to hijack the targeted application and force it to execute their own instructions.
  • XSS Through HTTP Query Strings CAPEC-32 An adversary embeds malicious script code in the parameters of an HTTP query string and convinces a victim to submit the HTTP request that contains the query string to a vulnerable web application. The web application then procedes to use the values parameters without properly validation them first and generates the HTML code that will be executed by the victim's browser.
  • XSS Through HTTP Headers CAPEC-86 An adversary exploits web applications that generate web content, such as links in a HTML page, based on unvalidated or improperly validated data submitted by other actors. XSS in HTTP Headers attacks target the HTTP headers which are hidden from most users and may not be validated by web applications.

Protect Your Infrastructure against CVE-2024-8981: Combat Critical CVE Threats

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