Special Text Boxes <= 6.2.4 — Unauthenticated Arbitrary Shortcode Execution
CVE-2024-8481Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: ≤6.2.4Update to 6.2.5 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- High7.3
- CVSS
- 7.3CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:LWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:NPrivileges required- None
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:LConfidentiality- Low
I:LIntegrity- Low
A:LAvailability- Low
- Required access
- No account needed
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
Special Text Boxes wp-special-textboxes
- Affected≤ 6.2.4
- Patched in6.2.5
Update to 6.2.5 or newer.
You are affected if you run ≤ 6.2.4. Version 6.2.5 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under Special Text Boxes.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
- No account is needed to exploit this. Treat any exposed site on an affected version as at risk.
What to do
- Update to version 6.2.5, or a newer patched version
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch Special Text Boxes to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Francesco Carlucci.
The The Special Text Boxes plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 6.2.4. This is due to the plugin adding the filter add_filter('comment_text', 'do_shortcode'); which will run all shortcodes in comments. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.
Exploits & references
Proof-of-concept & detection
No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.
Advisories & patches
- Advisorywordfence.com
Related CVEs
More in Special Text Boxes
All 3| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium6.1 | Cross-Site Scripting ≤5.9.110Update to 6.0.0 | — | |
| Medium5.5 | Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting ≤5.9.109Update to 5.9.110 | CVE-2021-24485 |
- Medium6.1Cross-Site Scripting
≤5.9.110Update to 6.0.0
- Medium5.5Authenticated (Admin+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting
≤5.9.109Update to 5.9.110
Timeline
CVE published
Severity high, CVSS 7.3
Record last updated
Sources & licenses
Wordfence record- Vulnerability data
- Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0.
- CVE® identifiers
- Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. Used under the CVE Program. CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
- CVSS / CWE
- National Vulnerability Database (NVD), shown unmodified. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- VulnCrest content
- Summary, remediation guidance and page layout © VulnCrest. Not sourced from NVD.