CVE-2025-1456 Overview
CVE-2025-1456 is a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Royal Elementor Addons and Templates plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all plugin versions up to and including 1.7.1012. It resides in the widgetGrid, widgetCountDown, and widgetInstagramFeed methods, which fail to properly sanitize input and escape output. Authenticated users with Contributor-level access or above can inject arbitrary JavaScript into pages. The injected script executes in the browser of any visitor who loads the affected page [CWE-79].
Critical Impact
Authenticated Contributors can persist JavaScript payloads that execute against site visitors and administrators, enabling session theft, forced administrative actions, and site defacement.
Affected Products
- Royal Elementor Addons and Templates plugin for WordPress
- All versions up to and including 1.7.1012
- Fixed in version 1.7.1013
Discovery Timeline
- 2025-04-12 - CVE-2025-1456 published to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD)
- 2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database
Technical Details for CVE-2025-1456
Vulnerability Analysis
The vulnerability is a stored XSS flaw introduced through three client-side widget methods bundled in the plugin's frontend JavaScript. The widgetGrid, widgetCountDown, and widgetInstagramFeed methods render user-controlled attributes directly into the Document Object Model (DOM) without escaping. Because the payload is stored in post or widget metadata, it executes for every visitor who loads the affected page, extending impact beyond the attacker's session.
Exploitation requires only Contributor-level access, a role many WordPress sites grant to external authors. The scope change captured in the metrics reflects that injected script runs in the security context of any authenticated administrator who previews or reviews the contributor's content. That crossover between Contributor and Administrator is the practical risk driver.
Root Cause
The root cause is insufficient input sanitization and output escaping in three widget rendering methods. User-supplied values from widget configuration reach the DOM through JavaScript sinks without being passed through a safe encoder. This maps to CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation).
Attack Vector
An authenticated attacker with the Contributor role edits or creates a page that includes one of the vulnerable Royal Elementor widgets. The attacker supplies a widget attribute containing an HTML or JavaScript payload. When any user, including editors and administrators, opens the page, the plugin's frontend script renders the attribute and executes the injected code in the victim's browser.
No verified proof-of-concept code has been published. Refer to the Wordfence Vulnerability Report and the WordPress Changeset for 1.7.1013 for the specific code changes.
Detection Methods for CVE-2025-1456
Indicators of Compromise
- Post, page, or widget content containing <script> tags, on*= event handlers, or javascript: URIs inside Royal Elementor widget attributes.
- Unexpected outbound requests from browser sessions of editors or administrators shortly after reviewing Contributor-authored content.
- New administrative users, altered plugin or theme files, or role changes originating from an administrator session that recently loaded a page authored by a Contributor.
Detection Strategies
- Query the WordPress database for postmeta and options rows tied to Royal Elementor widgets and flag values containing script sinks such as onerror, onload, or <script.
- Deploy a Content Security Policy (CSP) in report-only mode to surface inline script executions originating from post content.
- Review web server access logs for Contributor accounts submitting large or unusual widget payloads through the WordPress admin endpoints.
Monitoring Recommendations
- Alert on privilege changes, new administrator creation, and plugin or theme file modifications following Contributor content submissions.
- Monitor for anomalous session activity from privileged WordPress accounts, including cookie exfiltration attempts and unexpected fetch calls to external domains.
- Track plugin version inventory across WordPress sites and alert on any Royal Elementor Addons install at 1.7.1012 or earlier.
How to Mitigate CVE-2025-1456
Immediate Actions Required
- Upgrade the Royal Elementor Addons and Templates plugin to version 1.7.1013 or later on every WordPress site.
- Audit all users assigned the Contributor role or higher and remove accounts that no longer require access.
- Review recently authored or edited pages using the affected widgets for injected script content and revert or sanitize as needed.
Patch Information
The vendor addressed the vulnerability in version 1.7.1013. The fix modifies the frontend JavaScript in assets/js/frontend.js to properly sanitize the inputs consumed by the widgetGrid, widgetCountDown, and widgetInstagramFeed methods. See the WordPress Changeset for 1.7.1013 for the exact code changes.
Workarounds
- Temporarily disable the Royal Elementor Addons and Templates plugin until the patched version is deployed.
- Restrict page creation and editing to trusted Editor and Administrator accounts and revoke Contributor publishing where possible.
- Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that blocks inline scripts and unapproved script sources to limit XSS impact site-wide.
# Update the plugin via WP-CLI on affected WordPress hosts
wp plugin update royal-elementor-addons --version=1.7.1013
wp plugin get royal-elementor-addons --field=version
Disclaimer: This content was generated using AI. While we strive for accuracy, please verify critical information with official sources.
