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CVE Record

CVE-2024-35646: WordPress Smartarget Message Bar plugin <= 1.5 - Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Erez Hadas-Sonnenschein Smartarget Message Bar smartarget-message-bar.This issue affects Smartarget Message Bar: from n/a through <= 1.5.

MediumCVSS 5.9Not KEV-listedUpdated
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Glexia's TakeAutomated analysismoderate

Security readout for executives and security teams

Plain-English summary

CVE-2024-35646 is a cross-site scripting issue in the WordPress Smartarget Message Bar plugin. The supplied CVE data says versions through 1.5 are affected. A successful attack could let script run in a user's browser, creating limited confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.

Executive priority

Treat as a moderate website hygiene issue. Prioritize externally facing WordPress sites, especially where many administrators can modify plugin settings. It is not listed as known exploited in the supplied data.

Technical view

The vulnerability is CWE-79 improper input neutralization during page generation in smartarget-message-bar. CVSS 3.1 is 5.9 with network access, low complexity, high privileges required, user interaction required, changed scope, and low C/I/A impact.

Likely exposure

Exposure is limited to WordPress sites running Smartarget Message Bar at affected versions, described as through 1.5 in the CVE data. Sites not using this plugin are not exposed based on the provided sources.

Exploitation context

The source bundle does not identify active exploitation, and KEV is false. The CVSS vector indicates exploitation requires high privileges and user interaction, reducing urgency compared with unauthenticated XSS, but public websites should still address it.

Researcher notes

There is a source inconsistency: the CVE description and title state affected through 1.5, while Patchstack reference titles mention 1.3. No exploit details or fixed version are provided in the bundle.

Mitigation direction

  • Inventory WordPress sites for the Smartarget Message Bar plugin and installed versions.
  • Check vendor, WordPress plugin, or Patchstack guidance for a fixed version.
  • Disable or remove the plugin where it is not business-critical.
  • Limit high-privilege WordPress accounts and enforce MFA.
  • Monitor admin activity and unexpected content changes.

Validation and detection

  • Confirm whether smartarget-message-bar is installed on each WordPress site.
  • Compare installed versions against the CVE affected range through 1.5.
  • Review page output and plugin settings for untrusted script-like content.
  • Check logs for unusual high-privilege account activity.
  • Track Patchstack and CVE updates for corrected version details.
Prepared
Confidence
medium
Sources
4

Public sources used

Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.

Potential ATT&CK relevance

Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context

These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.

ATT&CK lookup starting points

Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.

cwe · medium confidence lookup

CWE-79: User-session and phishing behavior lookup

Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.

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cve · low confidence lookup

CVE-2024-35646 mapping review

Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.

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Vulnerability profileCVE Program record
Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.9 (3.1)
Known Exploited
No
Published

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

Official CVE source material

CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5

These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.

1CVSS vectors
3Timeline events
2ADP providers
3Source links

SSVC decision data

CISA-ADPCISA Coordinator
Timestamp
Version
2.0.3
Exploitation: noneAutomatable: noTechnical Impact: partial

CVSS vector scores

1 official score

We collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.

ScoreVersionSeverityVectorExploitImpactSource
5.9CVSS 3.1MediumCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L1.73.7Patchstack

Vulnerability scoring details

Base CVSS 3.1 score

5.9Medium
CVSS 3.1 vector shape for CVE-2024-35646Attack VectorAttack ComplexityPrivileges RequiredUser InteractionScopeConfidentiality ImpactIntegrity ImpactAvailability Impact

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

Attack Vector
NetworkAdjacentLocalPhysical
Attack Complexity
LowHigh
Privileges Required
NoneLowHigh
User Interaction
NoneRequired
Scope
ChangedUnchanged
Confidentiality Impact
HighLowNone
Integrity Impact
HighLowNone
Availability Impact
HighLowNone

Vulnerability timeline

Timeline events are normalized from CVE metadata, CNA source timelines, ADP timelines, and KEV metadata when present.

  1. CVE reservedCVE Program

    The CVE ID was reserved by the assigning CNA.

  2. CVE publishedCVE Program

    The CVE record was published.

  3. CVE updatedCVE Program

    The CVE record metadata indicates this as the latest update time.

ADP provider summaries

CISA-ADPCISA ADP Vulnrichment
other:ssvc
CVECVE Program Container

Source materials

Affected products

Products and packages named in the record

VendorProductVersion / packageStatus
Erez Hadas-SonnenscheinSmartarget Message Barsmartarget-message-bar, 0unaffected
Weakness

CWE details

CWE-79

CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.