CVE-2025-8068: HT Mega Elementor Plugin Auth Bypass Flaw

CVE-2025-8068 Overview

CVE-2025-8068 is a broken access control vulnerability in the HT Mega – Absolute Addons For Elementor plugin for WordPress. The flaw resides in the ajax_trash_templates function, which lacks a proper capability check. All plugin versions up to and including 2.9.1 are affected.

Authenticated users with Contributor-level access or higher can delete arbitrary attachment files and move arbitrary posts, pages, and templates to the Trash. The issue is tracked as CWE-863: Incorrect Authorization.

Critical Impact
Low-privileged authenticated users can destroy site content and delete media attachments across the entire WordPress instance.

Affected Products

HT Mega – Absolute Addons For Elementor (free) for WordPress
All versions up to and including 2.9.1
Vendor: HasThemes

Discovery Timeline

2025-07-31 - CVE-2025-8068 published to NVD
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-8068

Vulnerability Analysis

The HT Mega plugin exposes an AJAX endpoint that handles trash operations on templates managed by the plugin's theme builder. The handler function ajax_trash_templates, defined in admin/include/class.theme-builder.php, processes requests without validating whether the calling user has the appropriate capability to perform destructive actions on the targeted objects.

Because WordPress registers wp_ajax_ hooks for any authenticated user by default, an attacker only needs a Contributor account, a role commonly available through open registration or guest-author workflows. The handler proceeds to move posts, pages, and templates to the Trash and delete attachment files referenced by supplied identifiers.

The result is unauthorized data modification and loss. Attachments deleted through this path are unlinked from the filesystem, and trashed posts require administrator intervention to restore. See the Wordfence Vulnerability Analysis for additional context.

Root Cause

The ajax_trash_templates function omits a current_user_can() capability check before performing deletion operations. It also fails to verify object ownership, allowing a Contributor to act on posts and attachments owned by other users. This matches the [CWE-863] pattern of authorization decisions based on incomplete or missing checks.

Attack Vector

An authenticated attacker sends a crafted POST request to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php targeting the plugin's trash action, supplying the identifier of any post, page, template, or attachment. The endpoint executes the destructive operation without verifying user privileges. See the affected source snippet and the remediation changeset for reference.

No verified public proof-of-concept code is available. The vulnerability is described in prose per available advisory data.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-8068

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected posts, pages, or Elementor templates appearing in the WordPress Trash without corresponding administrator activity.
Missing media attachments or broken image references across published content.
Web server access logs showing repeated POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the plugin's trash action parameter from Contributor-level accounts.

Detection Strategies

Audit the WordPress wp_posts table for entries with post_status = 'trash' and cross-reference the post_modified timestamps against expected editorial activity.
Correlate admin-ajax.php request logs with the authenticated user role to flag Contributor accounts issuing template or attachment trash actions.
Enable file integrity monitoring on the wp-content/uploads/ directory to detect unauthorized attachment deletions.

Monitoring Recommendations

Ingest WordPress access logs and application audit events into a centralized log platform for correlation and alerting on anomalous AJAX activity.
Alert on any user with the Contributor role modifying or trashing objects they do not own.
Track installed plugin versions across WordPress fleets to identify sites still running HT Mega 2.9.1 or earlier.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-8068

Immediate Actions Required

Update the HT Mega – Absolute Addons For Elementor plugin to a version later than 2.9.1 that includes the fix from changeset 3336533.
Review Contributor and higher-role accounts for legitimacy and disable or remove unused accounts.
Restore any recently trashed posts, pages, or templates from backup where content loss is suspected.

Patch Information

HasThemes addressed the missing capability check in the plugin repository via changeset 3336533. Site administrators should apply the update through the WordPress plugin dashboard or by deploying the patched release directly. Verify the installed version reports higher than 2.9.1 after update.

Workarounds

Restrict user registration and avoid granting Contributor-or-higher roles to untrusted users until the patch is applied.
Deploy a web application firewall rule that blocks unauthenticated and low-privilege requests to the plugin's trash AJAX action.
Temporarily deactivate the HT Mega plugin on sites where updating is not immediately possible.

bash

# Example WP-CLI commands to inventory and update the plugin
wp plugin get ht-mega-for-elementor --field=version
wp plugin update ht-mega-for-elementor
wp plugin deactivate ht-mega-for-elementor  # optional temporary workaround