CVE-2024-3307 in HT Mega Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 05/02/2024
The HT Mega – Absolute Addons For Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the Countdown widget's attributes in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.9 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor access or above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 04/05/2025
The HT Mega plugin for WordPress represents a popular collection of addons that extend the functionality of the Elementor page builder platform. This particular vulnerability affects versions up to and including 2.4.9 where the Countdown widget implementation contains a critical security flaw that enables stored cross-site scripting attacks. The vulnerability specifically manifests within the widget's attribute handling mechanism, where input validation and sanitization measures prove insufficient to prevent malicious code injection.
The technical flaw stems from inadequate input sanitization processes that fail to properly filter or escape user-supplied data before it gets stored in the WordPress database. When authenticated users with contributor privileges or higher access the affected plugin's Countdown widget, the system does not adequately sanitize the attribute values provided by these users. This allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript code through the widget configuration interface, which then gets stored persistently within the WordPress content management system. The stored payload executes whenever any user accesses pages containing the compromised widget, creating a persistent threat vector that can affect all visitors to those pages.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution as it creates a persistent backdoor for attackers to maintain access to compromised WordPress installations. Contributors and above have sufficient privileges to modify page content and widget configurations, making this attack vector particularly dangerous within collaborative environments where multiple users have editing capabilities. The stored nature of the XSS vulnerability means that even if the initial attacker's session ends, their malicious code continues to execute for all future users who access affected pages, potentially allowing for credential harvesting, session hijacking, or redirection to malicious sites.
Security practitioners should recognize this vulnerability as a classic example of CWE-79 - Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation, which occurs when web applications fail to properly sanitize user input before it gets rendered in web pages. The attack pattern aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566.001 - Phishing: Spearphishing Attachment, where attackers leverage trusted plugin interfaces to deliver malicious payloads. Mitigation strategies should include immediate plugin updates to versions that address the sanitization issues, implementation of web application firewalls to detect and block suspicious script injections, and regular security audits of all plugin configurations. Additionally, administrators should enforce strict access controls and user permission management to limit the number of contributors who can modify widget configurations, while also implementing content security policies to prevent unauthorized script execution on affected pages.