CVE-2025-24578: Elementinvader Addons XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-24578 Overview

CVE-2025-24578 is a DOM-based Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the ElementInvader Addons for Elementor WordPress plugin. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 1.3.0. It is classified under CWE-79, Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation. Exploitation requires low-privilege authentication and user interaction, but the scope changes when the payload executes in a victim's browser. Successful attacks let adversaries execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the affected WordPress site.

Critical Impact

Authenticated contributors can inject client-side scripts that execute in visitors' browsers, enabling session theft, defacement, and drive-by redirection against WordPress sites running the plugin.

Affected Products

• ElementInvader Addons for Elementor versions through 1.3.0
• WordPress installations with the plugin active
• Sites permitting contributor or higher-level authenticated content authoring

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-01-24 - CVE-2025-24578 published to the National Vulnerability Database
• 2026-06-17 - Last updated in the NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-24578

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in how the ElementInvader Addons for Elementor plugin processes attacker-controlled input inside client-side rendering logic. The plugin passes unsanitized data into the Document Object Model (DOM), where a browser interprets it as executable script rather than inert content. Because the sink executes in the browser, server-side output encoding does not stop the payload.

The issue is a DOM-based XSS variant, distinct from stored or reflected XSS. The malicious data flows from a source such as a URL fragment, query parameter, or plugin-controlled attribute into a JavaScript sink like innerHTML or document.write. The scope-changed CVSS metric indicates the injected script runs beyond the vulnerable component, affecting the entire WordPress origin.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or insufficient neutralization of user-supplied input before it reaches a DOM manipulation API. The plugin trusts values that an authenticated user with content-creation privileges can control. When the browser parses the rendered widget markup, embedded script executes with the privileges of the current viewer.

Attack Vector

An authenticated attacker with at least contributor-level access crafts an Elementor page or widget containing a malicious payload. When an administrator or visitor loads the page, the plugin's client-side code renders the payload into the DOM, triggering script execution. Refer to the Patchstack XSS Vulnerability Report for advisory details.

No verified exploitation code is available in public repositories at the time of publication.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-24578

Indicators of Compromise

• Unexpected <script> tags, event handlers, or javascript: URIs stored inside Elementor widget attributes or post metadata
• Outbound browser requests from admin sessions to unfamiliar domains shortly after loading pages built with the plugin
• WordPress user accounts with contributor or author roles created before suspicious content edits
• Modifications to plugin-rendered widgets containing encoded payloads such as HTML entities that decode to script tags

Detection Strategies

• Inventory WordPress sites and identify installations of ElementInvader Addons for Elementor at version 1.3.0 or earlier
• Review post revisions and Elementor _elementor_data post meta for script fragments or suspicious attribute values
• Enable a Content Security Policy (CSP) in report-only mode to surface inline script execution attributed to the plugin
• Correlate authenticated content-editing activity with subsequent admin session anomalies

Monitoring Recommendations

• Alert on WordPress role changes and new low-privilege accounts that begin editing pages immediately after creation
• Monitor web server logs for repeated POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php involving Elementor actions from non-administrative users
• Capture browser telemetry from administrator workstations to detect script execution against unexpected origins
• Track plugin version drift across managed WordPress fleets to identify systems missing security updates

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-24578

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the ElementInvader Addons for Elementor plugin to a version later than 1.3.0 as soon as the vendor publishes a fixed release
• Audit contributor, author, and editor accounts and remove or reset any that are unused or unrecognized
• Review recently modified Elementor pages for injected script content and revert suspicious revisions
• Rotate administrator session cookies and credentials if compromise is suspected

Patch Information

The Patchstack advisory identifies all releases through 1.3.0 as vulnerable. Administrators should consult the Patchstack XSS Vulnerability Report and the plugin's official WordPress.org page for the fixed version number before deploying the update to production.

Workarounds

• Deactivate ElementInvader Addons for Elementor until a patched release is installed and verified
• Restrict content-authoring roles to trusted users and require multi-factor authentication for WordPress logins
• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule set that filters XSS payloads targeting Elementor widget parameters
• Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that blocks inline scripts and unauthorized script sources

# Example restrictive Content-Security-Policy header for a WordPress site
Header set Content-Security-Policy "default-src 'self'; script-src 'self'; object-src 'none'; base-uri 'self'; frame-ancestors 'self'"