CVE-2021-24206

Elementor Website Builder <= 3.1.3 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via title_size

2021-03-17 00:00
Ram

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.1.4
Affected Plugin
Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder
Affected Version
0.1.0 – 3.1.3
CVSS
6.4Medium
Weakness type
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE
CVE-2021-24206
View all Elementor Website Builder – more than just a page builder vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-24206 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 0.1.0 – 3.1.3. It carries a CVSS score of 6.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.1.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2021, reported by Ram.

Vulnerability Overview

In the Elementor Website Builder WordPress plugin before 3.1.4, the image box widget (includes/widgets/image-box.php) accepts a ‘title_size’ parameter. Although the element control lists a fixed set of possible html tags, it is possible for a user with Contributor or above permissions to send a modified ‘save_builder’ request containing JavaScript in the ‘title_size’ parameter, which is not filtered and is output without escaping. This JavaScript will then be executed when the saved page is viewed or previewed.

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')

Elementor Website Builder 0.1.0 – 3.1.3 carries this weakness at title_size, and reaching it takes an account at Contributor level or above. 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 3.1.4: builds 0.1.0 – 3.1.3 are affected, anything from 3.1.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.1.4, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Contributor 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. None of that substitutes for the fix: Elementor Website Builder 3.1.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24206https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/37f60fe5-2ece-48aa-8005-e220541bdd62https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24206

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C