CVE-2021-42360

Starter Templates — Elementor, Gutenberg & Beaver Builder Templates <= 2.7.0 - Missing Authorization to Stored Cross-Site Scripting

2021-10-04 00:00
Ram

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.7.1
Affected Version
<= 2.7.0
CVSS
7.6High
Weakness type
CWE-862 · Missing Authorization
CVE
CVE-2021-42360
View all Starter Templates: AI-Powered Website Templates for Elementor & Gutenberg vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-42360 is a high-severity Missing Authorization vulnerability in the Starter Templates WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.7.0. It carries a CVSS score of 7.6 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity impact). The root cause is a missing authorization check on a reachable function. The issue is fixed in version 2.7.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2021, reported by Ram.

Vulnerability Overview

On sites that also had the Elementor plugin for WordPress installed, it was possible for users with the edit_posts capability, which includes Contributor-level users, to import blocks onto any page using the astra-page-elementor-batch-process AJAX action. An attacker could craft and host a block containing malicious JavaScript on a server they controlled, and then use it to overwrite any post or page by sending an AJAX request with the action set to astra-page-elementor-batch-process and the url parameter pointed to their remotely-hosted malicious block, as well as an id parameter containing the post or page to overwrite. Any post or page that had been built with Elementor, including published pages, could be overwritten by the imported block, and the malicious JavaScript in the imported block would then be executed in the browser of any visitors to that page.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on integrity.

CWE-862: Missing Authorization

Reaching this weakness in Starter Templates <= 2.7.0 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. A missing authorization check means a function is reachable by anyone who can reach the endpoint, because the code never asks whether the caller is allowed to perform the action.

Any user who can reach the endpoint gets to run an action reserved for higher-privileged roles, from reading protected data to changing settings or content. For Starter Templates the fix is 2.7.1: builds <= 2.7.0 are affected, anything from 2.7.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.7.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Starter Templates 2.7.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

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