CVE-2024-2117 - Elementor WordPress Plugin Vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting Attacks

The widely popular Elementor Website Builder for WordPress, which boasts its flexibility as "More than Just a Page Builder" plugin, has a critical stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. This vulnerability affects all versions up to, and including, 3.20.2 of the plugin. Due to insufficient output escaping on user-supplied attributes in the plugin's Path Widget, the vulnerability allows authenticated attackers with contributor-level permissions and above to inject arbitrary web scripts into pages. These injected web scripts execute whenever a user accesses the affected page, leading to potential account takeover, data theft, and other damaging consequences for the website and its users.

Exploit Details

To exploit this vulnerability, an attacker with contributor-level privileges or greater needs to inject a malicious payload using specially crafted input into the plugin's Path Widget. This is accomplished by creating or modifying a page or post containing the vulnerable Path Widget and inserting malicious JavaScript code.

Below is a simple exploit example

<picture elementor-path data-src="test" onerror="alert('XSS Attack!')">

In the example above, the attacker inserts an "onerror" attribute with malicious JavaScript code (in this case, a simple alert box) into the plugin's Path Widget. When a user visits the page containing the crafted payload, the arbitrary web script executes, resulting in a successful XSS attack.

Impact

Unpatched instances of the Elementor plugin are at high risk of targeted attacks, which could lead to compromised user accounts, data theft, defacements, and potential harm to the website's reputation. Attackers could also use this vulnerability to achieve account takeover, allowing them access to sensitive information and control over website functionality.

Update the Elementor plugin to version 3.20.3 or later.

2. Implement role-based access control to ensure that only trusted users with adequate permissions can create or modify website content.

Utilize a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to detect and protect against XSS attacks.

For more information and to download the latest patched version, please visit the Elementor Website Builder plugin page on the WordPress repository: Elementor Plugin - WordPress.org

References

- CVE-2024-2117 - NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
- WordPress Elementor Plugin - Official Website
- WordPress Plugin Repository - Elementor
- OWASP - Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)

Conclusion

The CVE-2024-2117 stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Elementor Website Builder plugin presents a significant security risk to WordPress websites. This vulnerability potentially impacts millions of WordPress websites, making it critical for administrators to address promptly. Users are encouraged to update the plugin to version 3.20.3 or later and review their website's access controls to mitigate this risk and ensure the safety of their website and users.

Timeline

Published on: 04/09/2024 19:15:28 UTC
Last modified on: 04/10/2024 13:23:38 UTC