CVE-2025-14732: Elementor Website Builder XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-14732 Overview

The Elementor Website Builder – More Than Just a Page Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) via several widget parameters in all versions up to, and including, 3.35.5. The vulnerability stems from insufficient input sanitization and output escaping within the plugin's widget functionality. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.

Critical Impact

Authenticated attackers with Contributor-level access can inject malicious scripts that execute in the browser context of any user viewing affected pages, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or malware distribution.

Affected Products

• Elementor Website Builder plugin for WordPress versions up to and including 3.35.5
• WordPress installations with vulnerable Elementor versions
• Any website using affected Elementor widget parameters

Discovery Timeline

• 2026-04-08 - CVE-2025-14732 published to NVD
• 2026-04-08 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-14732

Vulnerability Analysis

This Stored Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability exists in the Elementor Website Builder plugin due to improper handling of user-supplied input in multiple widget parameters. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-87 (Improper Neutralization of Alternate XSS Syntax), indicating that while some XSS protections may be in place, alternate encoding or syntax can bypass these filters.

Stored XSS vulnerabilities are particularly dangerous because the malicious payload persists in the application's database and executes every time a user loads the affected page. In the context of a WordPress page builder plugin like Elementor, which is used on millions of websites, the attack surface is significant.

The attack requires network access and low privileges (Contributor-level), making it accessible to any user who can create or edit content through Elementor. The scope is changed, meaning the vulnerability can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component's security scope, impacting both confidentiality and integrity of other users' sessions.

Root Cause

The root cause lies in insufficient input sanitization and output escaping within Elementor's widget parameter handling. The plugin fails to properly neutralize special characters and alternate XSS syntax when processing user input through widget configurations. This allows attackers to craft malicious payloads that bypass any existing sanitization filters.

The vulnerable code can be reviewed in the WordPress Elementor Code Review, specifically in the elementor-post-meta.php file where post metadata processing occurs without adequate escaping.

Attack Vector

The attack leverages network-accessible WordPress functionality through the Elementor plugin interface. An attacker with at least Contributor-level access can:

1. Access the WordPress dashboard and navigate to Elementor's page builder interface
2. Create or edit a page using Elementor widgets
3. Inject malicious JavaScript payloads into vulnerable widget parameters
4. Save the page, storing the malicious script in the database
5. The script executes whenever any user, including administrators, views the affected page

The vulnerability mechanism involves injecting script content through widget parameters that accept user input. When these parameters are rendered on the frontend without proper output escaping, the injected scripts execute in visitors' browser contexts. Technical details regarding the specific vulnerable parameters can be found in the Wordfence Vulnerability Report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-14732

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected JavaScript code in Elementor widget configurations or page content
• Unusual <script> tags or event handlers (e.g., onerror, onload) in post metadata
• Reports of browser security warnings or unexpected redirects from site visitors
• Suspicious contributor or author activity involving bulk page edits

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect XSS patterns in POST requests to WordPress admin endpoints
• Monitor Elementor widget data and post metadata for suspicious script injections using regular expression patterns
• Review WordPress audit logs for unusual page editing activity by Contributor-level users
• Deploy Content Security Policy (CSP) headers and monitor violation reports for inline script execution attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging on WordPress admin actions, particularly content creation and modification events
• Configure SentinelOne to monitor for script injection patterns in web application traffic
• Implement real-time alerting for changes to pages created with Elementor, especially those containing JavaScript
• Regularly scan stored content in the WordPress database for XSS indicators

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-14732

Immediate Actions Required

• Update Elementor Website Builder plugin to version 3.35.6 or later immediately
• Audit all pages created with Elementor for potentially injected malicious scripts
• Review and restrict Contributor-level user permissions where possible
• Consider temporarily disabling Elementor if immediate patching is not possible

Patch Information

The vendor has released version 3.35.6 which addresses this vulnerability through improved input sanitization and output escaping. The specific changes can be reviewed in the WordPress Elementor Change Log.

Organizations should prioritize updating to version 3.35.6 or later through the WordPress plugin update mechanism. After updating, administrators should conduct a thorough review of existing Elementor-created content to identify and remove any potentially malicious scripts that may have been injected prior to patching.

Workarounds

• Restrict user roles to prevent Contributor-level users from accessing Elementor until the patch is applied
• Implement Content Security Policy headers to mitigate XSS impact by restricting inline script execution
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall with rules specifically designed to detect and block XSS payloads
• Conduct manual review of recently edited Elementor pages for suspicious content

# Configuration example - Add CSP header to wp-config.php or .htaccess
# Apache .htaccess example:
Header set Content-Security-Policy "script-src 'self' 'unsafe-inline' https://trusted-cdn.com; object-src 'none';"

# Or add to WordPress functions.php:
# add_action('send_headers', function() {
#     header("Content-Security-Policy: script-src 'self'; object-src 'none';");
# });