# CVE-2024-11740: Download Manager - RCE

> Live exploitation tracking for CVE-2024-11740 by the CrowdSec Live Exploit Tracker, built from real-world attack data crowdsourced from CrowdSec's global network.

Page: https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2024-11740

## Key facts

- **Exploitation phase:** Limited Exploitation. The vulnerability is known but shows very limited attacker interest or exploitation activity.
- **CVSS score:** 7.3
- **Public exploit available:** Yes
- **Affected products:** Codename065 Download Manager
- **Weaknesses:** CWE-94 (Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection'))
- **Tags:** cms, wordpress

## Description

The Download Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 3.3.03. This is due to the software allowing users to execute an action that does not properly validate a value before running do_shortcode. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.

## CrowdSec analysis

[CVE-2024-11740](https://euvd.enisa.europa.eu/vulnerability/CVE-2024-11740) is a vulnerability in the Download Manager plugin for WordPress that allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes due to improper input validation. This flaw could enable remote attackers to perform unauthorized actions, potentially leading to data leakage, content manipulation, or disruption of site functionality.

CrowdSec has been tracking this vulnerability and its exploits since 10th of September 2025.

Data from the CrowdSec community indicates that exploitation of CVE-2024-11740 is highly selective and intelligence-driven. Threat actors use advanced reconnaissance and carefully choose their targets, often as part of sophisticated campaigns or advanced persistent threat operations.
CrowdSec network telemetry also shows that exploitation of CVE-2024-11740 has significantly declined over the past week. Attack volumes are well below the long-term average, suggesting attackers are rapidly losing interest. The vulnerability appears to be falling out of active use across most threat landscapes.

Attackers exploit this vulnerability by sending crafted requests to the root URL (`/?__wpdmxp=`) with malicious shortcode payloads, targeting WordPress sites running the Download Manager plugin to execute arbitrary shortcodes without authentication.

## Timeline

- 2024-12-19: CVE Published. CVE-2024-11740 is published to NVD.
- 2025-09-10: Rule Released. CrowdSec releases a rule to detect CVE-2024-11740 exploitation attempts against the CrowdSec Network.
- 2025-09-11: CrowdSec First Seen. CrowdSec observes in-the-wild exploitation of CVE-2024-11740 for the first time.

## References

- https://github.com/projectdiscovery/nuclei-templates/blob/main/http/cves/2024/CVE-2024-11740.yaml

## Live exploitation data

The [Live Exploit Tracker page](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/cves/CVE-2024-11740) follows observed exploitation activity for CVE-2024-11740. [Request an API key](https://tracker.crowdsec.net/request-api-key) for full access to its exploitation timeline, attacking IP addresses and blocklists.