CVE-2025-48295: Easy Elementor Addons Stored XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-48295 Overview

CVE-2025-48295 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the hashthemes Easy Elementor Addons plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 2.2.5. An authenticated contributor-level user can inject malicious JavaScript that persists in the database and executes in the browsers of other site visitors or administrators. The issue is tracked under CWE-79 for improper neutralization of input during web page generation.

Critical Impact
Attackers with low-privilege access can store JavaScript payloads that execute in administrator sessions, enabling session theft, account takeover, and persistent site compromise.

Affected Products

hashthemes Easy Elementor Addons plugin for WordPress
All versions from n/a through 2.2.5
WordPress sites running Elementor with this addon installed

Discovery Timeline

2025-07-16 - CVE-2025-48295 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-48295

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input in widgets or shortcodes provided by the Easy Elementor Addons plugin. User input processed by one or more plugin components is rendered back into the page without adequate sanitization or output encoding. This allows an attacker to persist arbitrary HTML and JavaScript within WordPress content stored in the database.

The scope change in the vulnerability indicates that an attacker-controlled payload can impact resources beyond the vulnerable component itself. When another authenticated user, including an administrator, loads a page containing the injected content, the payload executes with that user's privileges in the browser context.

Exploitation requires low privileges and user interaction, such as an administrator previewing or viewing attacker-created content. See the Patchstack XSS Vulnerability Report for the vendor-coordinated technical analysis.

Root Cause

The root cause is missing or incomplete input sanitization and output escaping in plugin code that renders user-controlled attributes or content. WordPress exposes functions such as wp_kses_post(), esc_attr(), and esc_html() to prevent this class of flaw. The affected plugin versions fail to apply these controls consistently to one or more widget parameters.

Attack Vector

An authenticated contributor or editor crafts a post, page, or Elementor widget configuration containing a JavaScript payload inside an unsanitized field. The payload is stored in the WordPress database. When any user loads the affected page in a browser, the stored script executes under the site's origin. Administrators who review submitted content become the primary target for session hijacking and privilege escalation.

No verified public exploit code is available at the time of writing. Refer to the Patchstack advisory for proof-of-concept guidance.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-48295

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected <script>, <iframe>, or on* event handler attributes within Elementor widget data stored in wp_postmeta or wp_posts
New administrator accounts created shortly after a contributor-authored post was viewed by an admin
Outbound requests from administrator browsers to unfamiliar domains referenced by injected scripts
Modifications to plugin or theme files that correlate with contributor activity

Detection Strategies

Audit WordPress post content and postmeta entries for suspicious HTML or JavaScript patterns associated with Easy Elementor Addons widgets
Review web server access logs for POST requests to admin-ajax.php or Elementor save endpoints from low-privilege accounts
Enable WordPress audit logging to track content changes by contributor and editor roles
Monitor browser-side Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports for inline script execution attempts

Monitoring Recommendations

Alert on creation or modification of posts by contributor accounts that contain HTML tags typically filtered by wp_kses
Track administrator session anomalies such as new sessions from unexpected IP addresses or user agents
Review installed plugin versions regularly and alert when outdated vulnerable versions are detected
Correlate WordPress authentication events with content publication activity to spot abuse chains

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-48295

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Easy Elementor Addons plugin to a version later than 2.2.5 once released by hashthemes
If no patched version is available, deactivate and remove the plugin until a fix is published
Review contributor and editor accounts, removing any that are inactive or untrusted
Audit recent posts and widget configurations for injected scripts and remove malicious content

Patch Information

At the time of publication, the advisory indicates the vulnerability affects versions up to and including 2.2.5. Monitor the Patchstack advisory and the plugin's WordPress.org page for a fixed release. Apply the patch across all WordPress installations that use this plugin.

Workarounds

Restrict contributor and editor roles to trusted users only, reducing the attack surface for authenticated XSS
Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules that block common XSS payloads in Elementor widget parameters
Implement a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts and untrusted script sources
Disable the vulnerable plugin on production sites until an official patch is applied

bash

# Example: list installed plugin version using WP-CLI
wp plugin get easy-elementor-addons --field=version

# Deactivate the plugin as an interim mitigation
wp plugin deactivate easy-elementor-addons