CVE-2024-8913
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in The Plus Addons for Elementor WordPress plugin allows authenticated attackers with Contributor-level access or higher to extract sensitive private, pending, and draft template data. All WordPress sites using this plugin up to version 5.6.11 are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- The Plus Addons for Elementor – Elementor Addons, Page Templates, Widgets, Mega Menu, WooCommerce
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal unpublished content, proprietary templates, and confidential business information before publication, potentially causing competitive harm or data breaches.
Likely Case
Malicious contributors or compromised accounts accessing unpublished content they shouldn't have permission to view, leading to information disclosure.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls and monitoring, impact is limited to unauthorized viewing of draft content by authenticated users.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires authenticated access but is technically simple once authenticated.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 5.6.12 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3165763/the-plus-addons-for-elementor-page-builder
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'The Plus Addons for Elementor'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or download version 5.6.12+ from WordPress repository. 5. Activate updated plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Temporary Plugin Deactivation
allDisable the vulnerable plugin until patched version can be installed
wp plugin deactivate the-plus-addons-for-elementor
Restrict User Roles
allTemporarily remove Contributor and higher roles from untrusted users
wp user list --role=contributor --field=ID
wp user set-role <user_id> subscriber
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Restrict user roles to only essential personnel with Contributor access or higher
- Implement additional monitoring for user access to draft/pending content
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → The Plus Addons for Elementor → Version number. If version is 5.6.11 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin get the-plus-addons-for-elementor --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Verify plugin version is 5.6.12 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual access patterns to draft/pending content by Contributor+ users
- Multiple failed attempts to access restricted template endpoints
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests to /wp-content/plugins/the-plus-addons-for-elementor/modules/widgets/tp_accordion.php with suspicious parameters
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND "tp_accordion.php" AND ("draft" OR "pending" OR "private") AND user_role IN ("contributor","author","editor","administrator")