CVE-2024-4866 in UltraAddons Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 07/10/2024
The UltraAddons – Elementor Addons (Header Footer Builder, Custom Font, Custom CSS,Woo Widget, Menu Builder, Anywhere Elementor Shortcode) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via multiple widgets in all versions up to, and including, 1.1.6 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and 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 • 03/19/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-4866 affects the UltraAddons plugin for WordPress, a popular addon suite that extends Elementor's functionality with features including header footer builder, custom font support, custom css implementation, woo widget integration, menu builder capabilities, and anywhere elementor shortcode functionality. This plugin version range up to and including 1.1.6 contains a critical stored cross-site scripting vulnerability that poses significant security risks to WordPress installations. The flaw exists within the plugin's handling of user-supplied input across multiple widgets, creating an attack vector that can be exploited by authenticated users with contributor-level privileges or higher.
The technical root cause of this vulnerability stems from inadequate input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms within the plugin's codebase. When authenticated users with appropriate permissions create or modify content using the affected widgets, the plugin fails to properly validate and sanitize user-provided attributes before storing them in the database. This insufficient sanitization allows malicious scripts to be persisted in the system and subsequently executed whenever legitimate users access pages containing the injected content. The vulnerability manifests as stored XSS because the malicious payloads are stored server-side rather than being reflected in response headers or URLs, making the attack more persistent and harder to detect.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is substantial as it enables attackers to execute arbitrary web scripts in the context of any user's browser who accesses pages containing the malicious content. This capability allows threat actors to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, credential theft, data exfiltration, and redirection to malicious websites. The vulnerability affects all users with contributor-level access or higher, which is particularly concerning as contributors can typically create and edit posts, pages, and media files. This means that even users with relatively limited permissions can leverage this vulnerability to compromise the entire WordPress installation's security posture.
Organizations should implement immediate mitigation strategies to address this vulnerability, including updating to the latest plugin version where the XSS flaw has been patched. Administrators should also consider implementing additional security measures such as role-based access controls to limit contributor privileges where possible, and conducting thorough security audits of all installed plugins to identify similar vulnerabilities. The vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a clear violation of the principle of least privilege as defined in the NIST Cybersecurity Framework. From an ATT&CK perspective, this vulnerability maps to technique T1566.001 (Phishing with Malicious Attachments) and T1059.001 (Command and Scripting Interpreter: PowerShell) as attackers can leverage the XSS to execute malicious commands and scripts within user browsers.
The affected plugin ecosystem demonstrates how third-party WordPress plugins can introduce significant security risks when proper input validation and output escaping mechanisms are not implemented. This vulnerability highlights the critical importance of regular security assessments and the need for developers to follow secure coding practices including proper sanitization of user inputs and consistent output escaping across all plugin components. Organizations should also consider implementing web application firewalls and content security policies as additional defensive measures to protect against similar stored XSS vulnerabilities in their WordPress environments. The widespread use of Elementor and its addon ecosystem means that this vulnerability could potentially impact numerous WordPress installations, making prompt remediation essential for maintaining overall security hygiene.