CVE-2024-9673 in Addons For Elementor Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 01/08/2025
The Piotnet Addons For Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's Heading widget in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.31 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.
If you want to get best quality of vulnerability data, you may have to visit VulDB.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 01/18/2025
The Piotnet Addons For Elementor plugin represents a popular extension for WordPress that enhances the functionality of the Elementor page builder through additional widgets and features. This particular vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 2.4.31, creating a significant security risk within WordPress environments that utilize this plugin. The vulnerability manifests specifically within the plugin's Heading widget, which serves as one of the fundamental components for creating page content structures. The flaw stems from inadequate input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms that fail to properly validate or sanitize user-supplied attributes before processing them within the plugin's code execution flow.
The technical nature of this vulnerability places it squarely within the category of stored cross-site scripting attacks, where malicious scripts are permanently stored on the server and executed whenever affected pages are accessed by unsuspecting users. This particular weakness allows authenticated attackers who possess contributor-level access or higher privileges to inject arbitrary web scripts into the plugin's Heading widget functionality. The exploitation process occurs when an attacker leverages their elevated permissions to insert malicious code through the widget's attribute fields, which then gets stored in the database and subsequently executed whenever any user accesses pages containing the compromised content. This represents a classic stored XSS vulnerability pattern where the malicious input becomes part of the server-side content rather than being immediately reflected back to the user.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it creates a persistent threat vector that can be leveraged for various malicious activities including credential theft, session hijacking, and data exfiltration. Attackers could potentially craft scripts that steal administrator credentials, redirect users to malicious websites, or even deploy additional malware through compromised user sessions. The vulnerability affects all users who access pages containing the infected Heading widget content, making it particularly dangerous in environments where multiple users with varying permission levels interact with the same WordPress installation. This threat model aligns with ATT&CK technique T1566 for credential harvesting and T1071.001 for application layer protocol usage, while the vulnerability itself maps to CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws in input validation and output escaping mechanisms.
Mitigation strategies for this vulnerability require immediate action including updating to the latest version of the Piotnet Addons For Elementor plugin where the XSS sanitization issues have been addressed. System administrators should implement role-based access controls to limit contributor-level permissions to trusted users only, as well as conduct regular security audits of installed plugins and themes. Additionally, implementing Content Security Policy headers can provide an additional layer of protection against malicious script execution even if other defenses fail. Organizations should also consider monitoring for unusual plugin activity or unauthorized modifications to page content, as these may indicate exploitation attempts. The vulnerability highlights the importance of proper input validation and output escaping practices in web applications, particularly when dealing with user-supplied content that will be rendered on web pages, and demonstrates how seemingly minor security oversights can create significant attack vectors in content management systems.