CVE-2025-8216: Sky Addons for Elementor XSS Vulnerability

CVE-2025-8216 Overview

CVE-2025-8216 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Sky Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all plugin versions up to and including 3.1.4. Multiple widgets fail to properly sanitize user-supplied attributes and escape output before rendering content.

Authenticated users with contributor-level access or above can inject arbitrary JavaScript into pages. The injected scripts execute in the browser of any visitor who views the affected page, including administrators. The vulnerability is categorized under CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation.

Critical Impact
Authenticated contributors can plant persistent JavaScript payloads that execute against site administrators, enabling session hijacking, privilege escalation, and backdoor installation.

Affected Products

Sky Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress
All versions up to and including 3.1.4
WordPress sites with contributor-level or higher user registration enabled

Discovery Timeline

2025-07-29 - CVE-2025-8216 published to the National Vulnerability Database
2026-06-17 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-8216

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability resides in multiple widgets shipped by the Sky Addons for Elementor plugin. These widgets accept user-controlled attributes through the Elementor editor interface. The plugin writes these attributes into page markup without applying WordPress sanitization or escaping functions such as esc_attr(), esc_html(), or wp_kses_post().

An authenticated contributor can craft widget attributes that break out of the intended HTML context. The payload executes when any visitor loads the rendered page. Because stored XSS persists in the WordPress database, every subsequent page view triggers the injected script.

The scope-changed attack impact reflects the ability to compromise accounts outside the attacker's permission boundary. A low-privileged contributor can target administrator sessions, chaining the XSS into full site takeover.

Root Cause

The plugin omits input sanitization on widget attribute inputs and fails to escape the same data when rendering widget output. Both the input and output validation layers are missing. WordPress provides standard functions for this purpose, but the vulnerable widget handlers bypass them when echoing attributes into the DOM.

Attack Vector

An attacker must first obtain contributor-level credentials on a WordPress site running the affected plugin. Many WordPress sites allow open contributor registration or use contributor roles for guest authors. Once authenticated, the attacker creates or edits a post, inserts a vulnerable Sky Addons widget, and populates the attribute fields with a JavaScript payload. When a reviewer or administrator previews or publishes the post, the payload executes with their privileges. See the Wordfence Vulnerability Report for additional technical context.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-8216

Indicators of Compromise

Unexpected <script> tags, javascript: URIs, or event handlers such as onerror, onload, or onmouseover stored in wp_postmeta or wp_posts entries belonging to Elementor widgets.
New administrator accounts, modified user roles, or unauthorized plugin installations following contributor activity.
Outbound HTTP requests from administrator browsers to attacker-controlled domains after visiting pages that contain Sky Addons widgets.

Detection Strategies

Query the WordPress database for Elementor widget data containing HTML event handlers or script tags, focusing on posts authored by contributor-role accounts.
Review web server logs for POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php and /wp-json/wp/v2/posts from contributor accounts that modify Sky Addons widget content.
Monitor Content Security Policy (CSP) violation reports for inline script execution originating from WordPress-rendered pages.

Monitoring Recommendations

Enable WordPress audit logging to capture post edits, user role changes, and plugin modifications performed by low-privileged accounts.
Alert on creation of administrator accounts outside of change windows and on password changes initiated from unexpected IP addresses.
Correlate contributor login events with subsequent administrator session activity to identify session hijacking patterns.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-8216

Immediate Actions Required

Update the Sky Addons for Elementor plugin to a version newer than 3.1.4 as soon as the vendor releases a patched build.
Audit all contributor and author accounts, removing inactive or untrusted users and enforcing strong password requirements.
Review existing posts and pages for malicious payloads in Sky Addons widgets, prioritizing content authored by non-administrator roles.

Patch Information

The vendor committed changes referenced in the WordPress Plugin Changeset 3334452. Site operators should verify the installed plugin version in the WordPress admin dashboard and apply updates through the plugin manager. The plugin repository is tracked at the Sky Elementor Addons Overview page.

Workarounds

Deactivate the Sky Addons for Elementor plugin until a fixed version is deployed if business requirements allow.
Restrict contributor-level access by requiring administrator approval for new user registrations and disabling self-service signup.
Deploy a web application firewall rule that blocks requests containing script tags or JavaScript event handlers in Elementor widget parameters.
Enforce a strict Content Security Policy that disallows inline scripts to reduce the impact of stored XSS payloads.

bash

# Verify installed Sky Addons for Elementor version via WP-CLI
wp plugin get sky-elementor-addons --field=version

# Deactivate the plugin as a temporary workaround
wp plugin deactivate sky-elementor-addons

# Audit contributor-role accounts
wp user list --role=contributor --fields=ID,user_login,user_email,user_registered