CVE-2024-7417 in Royal Elementor Addons and Templates Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/17/2024
The Royal Elementor Addons and Templates plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 1.3.986 via the data_fetch. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to extract data from password protected posts.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/17/2024
The Royal Elementor Addons and Templates plugin for WordPress presents a significant information exposure vulnerability identified as CVE-2024-7417 affecting all versions up to and including 1.3.986. This vulnerability specifically manifests through the data_fetch functionality within the plugin, creating a critical security gap that undermines the confidentiality of protected content. The flaw represents a direct violation of information security principles where unauthorized access to sensitive data occurs through legitimate plugin mechanisms designed for content retrieval and display purposes.
The technical implementation of this vulnerability stems from inadequate access control validation within the plugin's data_fetch endpoint. Authenticated attackers operating with subscriber-level privileges or higher can exploit this weakness to bypass standard WordPress access controls that typically protect password-protected posts. The vulnerability essentially allows malicious users to craft requests that retrieve content from posts they should not have access to based on their authentication level and role permissions. This represents a classic case of insufficient authorization checks where the plugin fails to properly verify user credentials against the actual content access restrictions.
From an operational impact perspective, this vulnerability creates a substantial risk for WordPress sites utilizing the Royal Elementor plugin, particularly those with multiple user roles and password-protected content. Attackers can systematically extract sensitive information from protected posts without proper authorization, potentially including confidential business data, personal information, or proprietary content. The vulnerability affects the fundamental security model of WordPress, where password protection serves as a primary defense mechanism for restricting access to specific content. This exposure can lead to data breaches, compliance violations, and reputational damage for organizations relying on these access controls.
The vulnerability aligns with CWE-200 (Information Exposure) and CWE-284 (Improper Access Control) categories, representing a clear violation of proper access control implementation. From an attacker's perspective, this flaw maps to ATT&CK technique T1213.002 (Data from Information Repositories) and T1078.004 (Valid Accounts) as it leverages legitimate user accounts to access restricted information. Organizations should prioritize immediate patching of affected installations and consider implementing network-level monitoring to detect anomalous data access patterns. Additionally, administrators should review user role assignments and implement additional access controls beyond the default WordPress permissions to minimize the impact of such vulnerabilities. The remediation process requires updating to the latest plugin version where access controls have been properly enforced and validated against content protection mechanisms.