CVE-2025-68532 in ModelTheme Addons for WPBakery and Elementor Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 12/24/2025
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in modeltheme ModelTheme Addons for WPBakery and Elementor modeltheme-addons-for-wpbakery allows Stored XSS.This issue affects ModelTheme Addons for WPBakery and Elementor: from n/a through < 1.5.6.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 12/24/2025
This cross-site scripting vulnerability exists within the ModelTheme Addons for WPBakery and Elementor plugin, representing a critical security flaw that enables attackers to execute malicious scripts in the context of affected users' browsers. The vulnerability stems from improper input sanitization during web page generation processes, where user-supplied data is not adequately neutralized before being rendered in web pages. This allows malicious actors to inject persistent XSS payloads that can be stored on the server and subsequently executed whenever affected pages are accessed by other users. The vulnerability affects all versions of the plugin prior to version 1.5.6, making it particularly concerning for installations that have not been updated to address this specific weakness.
The technical implementation of this flaw involves the plugin's failure to properly escape or filter user input that is subsequently used in dynamic web page generation. When administrators or users input data through plugin interfaces, this data is stored without sufficient sanitization measures, creating opportunities for attackers to embed malicious JavaScript code within legitimate plugin functionality. The stored nature of this vulnerability means that the malicious payloads persist on the server and can affect multiple users over time, rather than requiring immediate exploitation through a single request. This characteristic significantly amplifies the potential impact and makes the vulnerability particularly dangerous in multi-user environments where plugin functionality is widely used.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple script execution, as it can enable attackers to perform various malicious activities including session hijacking, data theft, privilege escalation, and redirection to malicious sites. Attackers could potentially steal administrator credentials, modify content, or gain unauthorized access to sensitive information within the WordPress environment. The vulnerability's presence in popular page builder plugins like WPBakery and Elementor increases its exploitation potential, as these tools are commonly used across numerous websites and may have elevated privileges within the WordPress ecosystem. This makes the vulnerability particularly attractive to threat actors targeting WordPress installations for broader compromise.
Mitigation strategies should prioritize immediate plugin updates to version 1.5.6 or later, which contain the necessary patches to address the input sanitization deficiencies. Administrators should also implement comprehensive input validation and output encoding measures within their WordPress environments, ensuring that all user-supplied data undergoes proper sanitization before being processed or displayed. Security monitoring should be enhanced to detect unusual patterns in plugin data submissions, and regular security audits should verify that no malicious code has been injected through this vulnerability. Organizations should also consider implementing content security policies and web application firewalls to provide additional layers of protection against potential exploitation attempts. This vulnerability aligns with CWE-79 which specifically addresses cross-site scripting flaws, and represents a technique commonly categorized under ATT&CK tactic TA0001 (Initial Access) and technique T1059.007 (Scripting) in threat actor methodologies.