# CVE-2021-24180: Related Posts for WordPress < 2.0.4 - Authenticated Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

> Authenticated attackers can execute arbitrary scripts in victim browsers via a malicious URL in the Related Posts for WordPress plugin.

- **Severity:** Medium 5.4 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 5 Apr 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-6wjh-h2vc-4wfg

## What is CVE-2021-24180?

CVE-2021-24180 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Unknown Related Posts for WordPress, published on 5 Apr 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

Unvalidated input and lack of output encoding within the Related Posts for WordPress plugin before 2.0.4 lead to a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability within the 'lang' GET parameter while editing a post, triggered when users with the capability of editing posts access a malicious URL.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-24180?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Never5 Related Posts.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-24180?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-24180 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-24180 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-24180 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in Unknown Related Posts for WordPress

- [CVE-2015-9361](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9361/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2022-3506](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3506/): Cross-site Scripting (XSS) - Stored in barrykooij/related-posts-for-wp (medium 5.5)
- [CVE-2024-0592](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-0592/): Related Posts for WordPress <= 2.2.1 - Cross-Site Request Forgery (medium 5.4)
- [CVE-2021-24482](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24482/): Related Posts for WordPress <= 2.0.4 - Authenticated Stored XSS & XFS (medium 4.8)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-24180 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-24180 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Unknown Related Posts for WordPress, published on 5 Apr 2021. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-24180 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Unknown Related Posts for WordPress. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24180/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24180/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24180
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24180
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-24180

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24180/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.