CVE-2026-19226 in Royal Addons Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 08/26/2026
The Royal Addons for Elementor WordPress plugin before 1.7.1066 does not validate some widget settings before outputting them inside an HTML attribute, which could allow users with the Contributor role and above to perform Stored Cross-Site Scripting attacks.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 08/26/2026
The vulnerability identified in Royal Addons for Elementor prior to version 1.7.1066 represents a significant security flaw within the WordPress ecosystem, specifically targeting the plugin's handling of user-supplied input during widget configuration. This issue stems from an insufficient validation mechanism where specific settings provided by users are not properly sanitized or escaped before being embedded directly into HTML attributes. In web application architecture, this type of oversight is classically categorized under CWE-79, which defines Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation commonly known as Cross-Site Scripting. The core technical failure lies in the plugin's inability to distinguish between safe data and executable script content when rendering these settings within the browser context, thereby allowing malicious payloads to persist in the DOM structure associated with the widget output.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is particularly concerning due to its classification as a Stored Cross-Site Scripting attack vector. Unlike reflected XSS which requires tricking a user into clicking a crafted link, stored vulnerabilities reside on the target server and are served to every visitor who views the affected content. Because the privilege level required to exploit this flaw starts at the Contributor role or higher, it is accessible to users who typically have permissions to create and publish posts or manage media within WordPress environments. An attacker with these elevated privileges can inject malicious JavaScript code into widget settings that will execute automatically in the browsers of any user viewing the page where the compromised widget is displayed. This execution context allows for a wide range of adverse outcomes, including session hijacking through cookie theft, defacement of the website's appearance, redirection to phishing sites, or the deployment of further malware onto client systems.
From an offensive security perspective, this vulnerability aligns with several techniques documented in the MITRE ATT&CK framework. The initial access and persistence aspects relate to T1059 which covers Command and Scripting Interpretation, specifically JavaScript execution within a browser environment. Furthermore, if the attacker leverages stolen session cookies or administrative credentials obtained through the XSS payload, it may escalate into T1078 Valid Accounts for unauthorized access to system resources. The stored nature of the attack also correlates with persistence mechanisms where malicious scripts remain active on the server-side rendered pages until manually removed by an administrator, creating a long-term risk even after the initial exploit is discovered.
Mitigation strategies must focus on both immediate remediation and long-term defensive coding practices. The primary solution is to upgrade the Royal Addons for Elementor plugin to version 1.7.1066 or later where this validation logic has been corrected. For organizations unable to patch immediately, a temporary workaround involves restricting user roles that can edit widget settings with sensitive attributes, effectively limiting exposure to administrators only until an update is applied. Additionally, implementing Content Security Policy headers can help mitigate the impact of successful XSS attacks by restricting the sources from which scripts are allowed to execute, although this should be viewed as a compensating control rather than a fix for the underlying code defect. Developers and security teams should also audit other plugins within their stack for similar patterns of unvalidated output in HTML attributes to prevent recurrence of CWE-79 vulnerabilities across the entire web application infrastructure.