Simple Download Counter Stored Cross-Site Scripting Vulnerability

A stored cross-site scripting vulnerability has been identified in the Simple Download Counter plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions through 2.3. The issue arises from inadequate input sanitization and output escaping of user-supplied shortcode attributes, particularly the 'text' and 'cat' attributes. Authenticated attackers with Contributor-level access and above can exploit this vulnerability by injecting arbitrary web scripts into pages, which are executed when users access the affected pages.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability allows for stored cross-site scripting, where injected scripts are executed in the context of the user viewing the page.

Reproduction

To reproduce this vulnerability, an authenticated user with Contributor-level access or higher can use the 'sdc_menu' shortcode. The 'text' attribute can be populated with unescaped HTML, which will be rendered as a script when the page is accessed. Additionally, the 'cat' attribute can be used to inject unescaped data into HTML class attributes, further facilitating the cross-site scripting attack.

Remediation

Users are advised to update the Simple Download Counter plugin to version 2.3.1 or a newer patched version.