CVE-2020-36171

Elementor Website Builder <= 3.0.13 - Unrestricted SVG Uploads

2020-11-25 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 3.0.14
Affected Plugin: Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder
Affected Version: <= 3.0.13
CVSS: 6.4Medium
Weakness type: CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE: CVE-2020-36171

View all Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2020-36171 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Elementor Website Builder WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.0.13. It carries a CVSS score of 6.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). The issue is fixed in version 3.0.14; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2020.

Vulnerability Overview

The Elementor Website Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized malicious SVG file uploads in versions up to, and including, 3.0.13. This is due to improper restrictions on allowing SVG file uploads. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with post editor access to upload SVG files that could contain malicious content such as web scripts.

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.

CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Reaching this weakness in Elementor Website Builder <= 3.0.13 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.

Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For Elementor Website Builder the fix is 3.0.14: builds <= 3.0.13 are affected, anything from 3.0.14 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.0.14, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Elementor Website Builder: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Elementor Website Builder 3.0.14 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-36171 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/3999c48f-bae6-48ea-b35f-d8307d9c3898 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-36171

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder

CVSS Vector

6.4

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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