CVE-2024-10779
📋 TL;DR
The Cowidgets – Elementor Addons WordPress plugin has an information exposure vulnerability that allows authenticated attackers with Contributor-level access or higher to view private or draft Elementor posts they shouldn't have access to. This affects all versions up to 1.2.0 of the plugin on WordPress sites using Elementor.
💻 Affected Systems
- Cowidgets – Elementor Addons WordPress plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Sensitive draft content, unpublished product information, or confidential business plans could be exposed to unauthorized users, potentially leading to data leaks or competitive intelligence gathering.
Likely Case
Contributors or authors could view each other's draft posts, potentially seeing unpublished content before intended publication dates.
If Mitigated
With proper user role management and plugin updates, the risk is limited to authorized users viewing content they shouldn't see, but no data modification occurs.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is simple via the 'ce_template' shortcode. No special tools or advanced skills needed.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.2.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://wordpress.org/plugins/cowidgets-elementor-addons/
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'Cowidgets – Elementor Addons'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or download latest version from WordPress repository. 5. Activate updated plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable shortcode
allRemove or disable the 'ce_template' shortcode functionality
Add to theme's functions.php: remove_shortcode('ce_template');
Temporarily deactivate plugin
linuxDisable the Cowidgets plugin until patched
wp plugin deactivate cowidgets-elementor-addons
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Review and restrict Contributor-level user accounts to trusted individuals only
- Monitor user activity logs for suspicious access to draft or private posts
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Cowidgets – Elementor Addons. If version is 1.2.0 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get cowidgets-elementor-addons --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is 1.2.1 or higher in WordPress admin plugins page.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual access to draft/private posts by Contributor-level users
- Multiple shortcode usage logs for 'ce_template'
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to WordPress with 'ce_template' parameter by authenticated users
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (shortcode="ce_template" OR post_status="draft" OR post_status="private") AND user_role="contributor"