CVE-2023-5922
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in the Royal Elementor Addons and Templates WordPress plugin allows unauthenticated attackers to access draft, private, and password-protected posts/pages via AJAX endpoints. Any WordPress site using affected versions of this plugin is vulnerable to content disclosure.
💻 Affected Systems
- Royal Elementor Addons and Templates WordPress plugin
📦 What is this software?
Royal Elementor Addons by Royal Elementor Addons
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could access sensitive unpublished content, confidential draft materials, or private posts containing proprietary information, leading to data breaches and intellectual property theft.
Likely Case
Unauthenticated users accessing restricted content they shouldn't see, potentially exposing draft articles, private announcements, or password-protected materials.
If Mitigated
If proper access controls and authentication checks are implemented, only authorized users can access restricted content as intended.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires sending crafted AJAX requests to vulnerable endpoints. No authentication required.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.3.81
Vendor Advisory: https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/debd8498-5770-4270-9ee1-1503e675ef34/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Royal Elementor Addons and Templates'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 1.3.81+ from WordPress repository and manually update.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable plugin
allTemporarily deactivate the Royal Elementor Addons and Templates plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate royal-elementor-addons
Restrict AJAX endpoints
linuxUse web application firewall or .htaccess to block unauthorized access to AJAX endpoints
# Add to .htaccess:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_URI} ^/wp-admin/admin-ajax\.php [NC]
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=.*
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable the Royal Elementor Addons and Templates plugin immediately
- Implement strict IP-based access controls to WordPress admin and AJAX endpoints
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Royal Elementor Addons and Templates version numberCheck Version:
wp plugin get royal-elementor-addons --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is 1.3.81 or higher in WordPress admin panel📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual AJAX requests to admin-ajax.php with action parameters
- Access to draft/private posts from unauthenticated IPs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action parameters from unauthorized sources
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" AND http_method="POST" AND NOT user_agent="WordPress/*")