CVE-2020-13126

Elementor Pro <= 2.9.3 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary File Upload

2020-05-06 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.9.4
Affected Plugin: Elementor Website Builder Pro
Affected Version: < 2.9.4
CVSS: 9.9Critical
Weakness type: CWE-434 · Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
CVE: CVE-2020-13126

View all Elementor Website Builder Pro vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2020-13126 is a critical-severity Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in the Elementor Website Builder Pro WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 2.9.4. It carries a CVSS score of 9.9 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 2.9.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2020, reported by Chloe Chamberland.

Vulnerability Overview

An issue was discovered in the Elementor Pro plugin before 2.9.4 for WordPress, as exploited in the wild in May 2020 in conjunction with CVE-2020-13125. An attacker with the Subscriber role can upload arbitrary executable files to achieve remote code execution. NOTE: the free Elementor plugin is unaffected.

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 confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-434: Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type

Reaching this weakness in Elementor Website Builder Pro < 2.9.4 takes an account at Subscriber level or above. An unrestricted file upload lets a caller store a file whose type or destination the application does not properly constrain.

If an uploaded file lands anywhere the server will execute, the flaw becomes remote code execution and the site should be treated as fully compromised. For Elementor Website Builder Pro the fix is 2.9.4: builds < 2.9.4 are affected, anything from 2.9.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.9.4, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Subscriber access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Elementor Website Builder Pro 2.9.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Scanner
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-13126 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3ec997c8-3f47-45c8-8fa2-019b01c97c94 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-13126

Related records

Same weakness class

9.8CVE-2026-32475: Elementor Pro <= 4.2.1 Arbitrary File UploadCVE-2026-32475

Other vulnerabilities in Elementor Website Builder Pro

CVSS Vector

9.9

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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