CVE-2024-8494 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) found in the Elementor Website Builder Pro plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 3.25.10, with a partial fix introduced in version 3.24.4. The issue arises from improper access control in the handling of the 'elementor-template' shortcode, which allows authenticated users with Contributor-level permissions or higher to retrieve the contents of Private, Pending, and Draft templates. These templates often contain sensitive or unpublished content that should not be accessible to lower-privileged users. The vulnerability does not require user interaction beyond authentication and can be exploited remotely (AV:N) with low attack complexity (AC:L). The impact is limited to confidentiality (C:L), with no effect on integrity or availability. The scope is limited to WordPress sites using the vulnerable Elementor plugin versions. Since the vulnerability requires authenticated access, it primarily threatens environments where Contributor or higher roles are assigned to potentially untrusted users. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the exposure of unpublished content could lead to information leakage, intellectual property theft, or reputational damage. The vulnerability highlights the importance of strict access control enforcement in content management plugins.

The primary impact of CVE-2024-8494 is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or unpublished content stored in Elementor templates. This can lead to leakage of proprietary information, draft marketing materials, confidential design elements, or other sensitive data that organizations intend to keep private until publication. For businesses relying on Elementor for website content management, this could result in intellectual property theft, competitive disadvantage, or brand reputation harm. Since the vulnerability requires Contributor-level access, the risk is elevated in environments where multiple users have such permissions, including agencies, multi-author blogs, or organizations with delegated content creation roles. Although the vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, the confidentiality breach can facilitate further social engineering or targeted attacks by exposing internal content. The absence of known exploits reduces immediate risk, but the widespread use of Elementor means many websites could be vulnerable if not patched. Organizations with sensitive unpublished content or strict confidentiality requirements are particularly at risk.

To mitigate CVE-2024-8494, organizations should immediately update the Elementor Website Builder Pro plugin to a version later than 3.25.10 once an official patch is released that fully addresses the vulnerability. Until then, consider restricting Contributor-level access to trusted users only, minimizing the number of users with permissions that allow exploitation. Implement strict role-based access controls and audit user permissions regularly to ensure no unnecessary privileges are granted. Additionally, monitor logs for unusual access patterns to template content. If updating is not immediately possible, consider disabling or restricting the use of the 'elementor-template' shortcode via custom code or plugin settings to prevent unauthorized template retrieval. Employ web application firewalls (WAFs) to detect and block suspicious requests targeting this shortcode. Finally, educate content creators and administrators about the risks of sharing Contributor access and encourage strong authentication practices to reduce the risk of compromised accounts.