CVE-2025-1261
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability allows authenticated attackers with contributor-level access or higher to inject malicious scripts into WordPress pages using the HT Mega plugin's Countdown widget. The scripts execute whenever users view the compromised pages, enabling session hijacking, defacement, or malware distribution. This affects all WordPress sites using HT Mega plugin versions up to 2.8.2.
💻 Affected Systems
- HT Mega - Absolute Addons For Elementor WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
Ht Mega by Hasthemes
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal administrator credentials, compromise user accounts, install backdoors, redirect visitors to malicious sites, or deface the entire website.
Likely Case
Attackers with contributor access inject malicious scripts to steal user session cookies, display unwanted content, or redirect users to phishing pages.
If Mitigated
With proper access controls limiting contributor privileges and regular security monitoring, impact is reduced to potential defacement of specific pages.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires contributor-level access. The vulnerability is well-documented with public proof-of-concept available in the WordPress patch commit.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 2.8.3
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3249106/ht-mega-for-elementor/tags/2.8.3/assets/js/htmega-widgets-active.js
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'HT Mega - Absolute Addons For Elementor'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or download version 2.8.3 from WordPress repository. 5. Activate the updated plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Remove Contributor Access
allTemporarily remove contributor-level user roles or restrict their widget editing capabilities
Disable Countdown Widget
allDisable the vulnerable Countdown widget via plugin settings or code modification
Add to theme's functions.php: add_filter('elementor/widgets/register', function($widgets_manager) { $widgets_manager->unregister_widget_type('htmega-countdown'); });
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Remove the HT Mega plugin entirely and use alternative Elementor addons
- Implement strict Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to mitigate XSS impact
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → HT Mega plugin version. If version is 2.8.2 or lower, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name='ht-mega-for-elementor' --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version shows 2.8.3 or higher in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with countdown widget parameters
- Multiple failed login attempts followed by successful contributor-level login
Network Indicators:
- Outbound connections to suspicious domains from your WordPress site
- Unexpected JavaScript includes in page responses
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress.log" AND ("htmega-countdown" OR "countdown_widget") AND ("script" OR "javascript" OR "onclick")