cbcvebase.
CVE-2022-1329
published 2022-04-19

CVE-2022-1329: The Elementor Website Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized execution of several AJAX actions due to a missing capability check in the…

PriorityP188high8.8CVSS 3.1
AVNACLPRLUINSUCHIHAH
ITWEXPLOITVulnCheck KEV
Exploited in the wild
EPSS
92.94%
99.8th percentile
The Elementor Website Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized execution of several AJAX actions due to a missing capability check in the ~/core/app/modules/onboarding/module.php file that make it possible for attackers to modify site data in addition to uploading malicious files that can be used to obtain remote code execution, in versions 3.6.0 to 3.6.2.

Affected

4 ranges
VendorProductVersion rangeFixed in
elementorwebsite_builder3.6.0 – 3.6.2
elemntorelementor_website_builder
elemntorelementor_website_builder
elemntorelementor_website_builder

Detection & IOCsextracted from sources · hover to see the quote

path/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
commandaction=elementor_upload_and_install_pro
path~/core/app/modules/onboarding/module.php
filenameelementor-pro/elementor-pro.php
bytes
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
  • Detect exploitation attempts by monitoring POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the AJAX action 'elementor_upload_and_install_pro' from low-privileged (Subscriber+) authenticated users.
  • Alert on multipart file uploads to admin-ajax.php containing a ZIP file submitted via the 'fileToUpload' field paired with action 'elementor_upload_and_install_pro'.
  • A successful exploitation response body contains the MD5 string '5f9bc5edd71c78284dabe630df8cd71d'; alert on its presence in HTTP responses from /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php.
  • Monitor for nonce extraction via regex pattern 'admin-ajax.php","nonce":"([0-9a-zA-Z]+)"}' in GET /wp-admin/ responses, which is a precursor step in the exploit chain.
  • Flag GET requests to /index.php?activate=1 immediately following a file upload to admin-ajax.php, as this is the activation step in the RCE exploit chain.
  • Any authenticated user with Subscriber-level permissions or above can trigger the vulnerability; do not restrict detection to admin-level accounts.
  • ·The vulnerability exists only in Elementor versions 3.6.0 through 3.6.2; version 3.6.3 and later are patched. Scope detection rules accordingly.
  • ·The missing capability check is specifically in the onboarding module file; detection should focus on that AJAX action rather than all admin-ajax.php traffic.
  • ·Exploitation requires authentication (any subscriber-level account); unauthenticated requests will not trigger this vulnerability.

CVSS provenance

nvdv3.18.8HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvdv2.06.5MEDIUMAV:N/AC:L/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P
vulncheck8.8HIGH
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