CVE-2024-2203

The Plus Addons for Elementor <= 5.4.1 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Local File Inclusion via Clients Widget

2024-03-26 00:00
wesley (wcraft)

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 5.4.2
Affected Plugin
The Plus Addons for Elementor – Addons for Elementor, Page Templates, Widgets, Mega Menu, WooCommerce
Affected Version
<= 5.4.1
CVSS
6.4Medium
Weakness type
CWE-22 · Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')
CVE
CVE-2024-2203
View all The Plus Addons for Elementor – Addons for Elementor, Page Templates, Widgets, Mega Menu, WooCommerce vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2024-2203 is a medium-severity Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal') vulnerability in the The Plus Addons for Elementor WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 5.4.1. 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 5.4.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2024, reported by wesley (wcraft).

Vulnerability Overview

The The Plus Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Local File Inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 5.4.1 via the Clients widget. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with contributor-level access and above, to include and execute arbitrary files on the server, allowing the execution of any PHP code in those files. This can be used to bypass access controls, obtain sensitive data, or achieve code execution in cases where images and other “safe” file types can be uploaded and included.

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-22: Improper Limitation of a Pathname to a Restricted Directory ('Path Traversal')

The Plus Addons for Elementor <= 5.4.1 carries this weakness at safe, and reaching it takes an account at Contributor level or above. Path traversal happens when user-controlled text is used to build a filesystem path without being constrained to an intended directory, so sequences like ../ walk the resolved path somewhere else.

Depending on the operation, it means reading files outside the intended folder — wp-config.php being the usual target — or writing to and deleting paths the web server can touch. For The Plus Addons for Elementor the fix is 5.4.2: builds <= 5.4.1 are affected, anything from 5.4.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 5.4.2, 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: The Plus Addons for Elementor 5.4.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2024-2203https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/dc7ff863-3a8e-41cd-ae20-78bb4577c16ahttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2024-2203

Related records

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