# CVE-2021-24611: Keywords & Meta <= 3.0 - CSRF to Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

> Attackers can inject malicious scripts via CSRF in the Keywords & Meta plugin, potentially compromising admin accounts and executing code.

- **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:** 6 Sep 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-q4g3-xp8v-q7h5

## What is CVE-2021-24611?

CVE-2021-24611 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Unknown Keyword Meta, published on 6 Sep 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

The Keyword Meta WordPress plugin through 3.0 does not sanitise of escape its settings before outputting them back in the page after they are saved, allowing for Cross-Site Scripting issues. Furthermore, it is also lacking any CSRF check, allowing attacker to make a logged in high privilege user save arbitrary setting via a CSRF attack.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation), CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-24611?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Keyword Meta Project Keyword Meta.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-24611?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-24611 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-24611 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2021-24611 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-24611 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-24611 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in Unknown Keyword Meta, published on 6 Sep 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-2021-24611 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: Unknown Keyword Meta. 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-2021-24611/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24611/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24611
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24611
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-24611

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24611/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.