CVE-2024-8801 is a vulnerability classified under CWE-200 (Exposure of Sensitive Information to an Unauthorized Actor) found in the Happy Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 3.12.2. The vulnerability resides in the Content Switcher widget, which improperly restricts access to Elementor templates that are private, draft, or pending. Authenticated attackers with Contributor-level permissions or above can exploit this flaw to extract sensitive template data that should otherwise be inaccessible. The attack vector is remote network-based (AV:N), requires low attack complexity (AC:L), and privileges at the level of a Contributor (PR:L). No user interaction is needed (UI:N), and the scope remains unchanged (S:U). The impact is limited to confidentiality (C:L), with no impact on integrity or availability. This means attackers can read sensitive design and content templates, potentially exposing unpublished or confidential information, but cannot modify or disrupt the system. The vulnerability does not have publicly known exploits at this time. The plugin is widely used among WordPress sites employing Elementor page builder, making the exposure significant for affected installations. The vulnerability was reserved on 2024-09-13 and published on 2024-09-24. No patches or fixes were linked at the time of reporting, so mitigation may require manual intervention or plugin updates once available.

The primary impact of CVE-2024-8801 is unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information contained within Elementor templates, including private, draft, and pending content. This can lead to leakage of unpublished website designs, proprietary content, or confidential business information. For organizations, this exposure could facilitate further targeted attacks, intellectual property theft, or reputational damage if sensitive content is leaked publicly. Since the vulnerability requires authenticated access at Contributor level or higher, the risk is elevated in environments where user permissions are not tightly controlled or where Contributor accounts may be compromised. The vulnerability does not affect system integrity or availability, so it does not enable defacement or denial of service. However, the confidentiality breach alone can be significant for organizations relying on Elementor for content management and design. Given the widespread use of WordPress and Elementor, many websites globally could be affected, especially those with multiple contributors and collaborative content workflows. The lack of known exploits reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, as attackers may develop exploits once the vulnerability is publicly known.

Organizations should immediately review user roles and permissions within their WordPress installations to ensure that only trusted users have Contributor-level or higher access. Limiting the number of users with such privileges reduces the attack surface. Until an official patch or update is released by thehappymonster, administrators can consider disabling or restricting access to the Content Switcher widget if feasible. Monitoring logs for unusual access patterns by authenticated users can help detect exploitation attempts. Employing a web application firewall (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting Elementor templates may provide temporary protection. Regularly updating WordPress core, plugins, and themes is critical once a patch becomes available. Additionally, organizations should educate contributors about the sensitivity of unpublished content and enforce strong authentication mechanisms, such as multi-factor authentication, to reduce the risk of account compromise. Backup procedures should be reviewed to ensure rapid recovery in case of any related incidents.