CVE-2025-12837 is a stored Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability identified in the aThemes Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress, specifically within the Call To Action widget. This vulnerability arises from insufficient sanitization and output escaping of user-supplied input, allowing authenticated users with contributor-level or higher permissions to inject arbitrary JavaScript code into pages. When other users access these compromised pages, the malicious scripts execute in their browsers, potentially enabling session hijacking, privilege escalation, or redirection to malicious sites. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 1.1.5 of the plugin. The CVSS 3.1 base score is 6.4, reflecting a medium severity level, with an attack vector of network, low attack complexity, requiring privileges (contributor or higher), no user interaction, and a scope change. The impact includes partial confidentiality and integrity loss but no availability impact. No public exploits have been reported yet, but the vulnerability is significant due to the widespread use of WordPress and the plugin in question. The attack requires an authenticated user with contributor or higher permissions, which is common in collaborative content management environments. The vulnerability underscores the importance of proper input validation and output encoding in web applications, especially those allowing user-generated content. The lack of a patch at the time of reporting necessitates immediate mitigation steps to reduce risk.

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily to websites using WordPress with the aThemes Addons for Elementor plugin installed. Since contributor-level users can exploit this flaw, organizations with multiple content editors or contributors are particularly vulnerable. Exploitation could lead to unauthorized script execution in the context of the website, enabling attackers to steal session cookies, perform actions on behalf of other users, or deface websites. This can damage organizational reputation, lead to data breaches, and potentially facilitate further attacks such as phishing or malware distribution. The impact is heightened in sectors relying heavily on web presence and user interaction, including e-commerce, media, education, and government portals. Given the plugin’s popularity among SMEs and agencies in Europe, the threat could affect a broad range of organizations. However, the requirement for authenticated access limits the attack surface to internal or trusted users, reducing the likelihood of widespread exploitation but increasing insider threat concerns. The absence of known exploits in the wild currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate it, especially as attackers often develop exploits rapidly after vulnerability disclosure.

1. Immediately restrict contributor-level permissions to trusted users only and review existing user roles to minimize the number of users who can inject content. 2. Monitor and audit content submitted via the Call To Action widget for suspicious scripts or unexpected HTML tags. 3. Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with rules specifically targeting stored XSS attacks to detect and block malicious payloads. 4. Until a patch is available, consider disabling or removing the aThemes Addons for Elementor plugin if feasible, or disable the vulnerable Call To Action widget functionality. 5. Educate content contributors about the risks of injecting untrusted code and enforce strict content submission guidelines. 6. Implement Content Security Policy (CSP) headers to restrict the execution of unauthorized scripts on affected websites. 7. Regularly update WordPress core, plugins, and themes to incorporate security fixes promptly once the vendor releases a patch for this vulnerability. 8. Conduct penetration testing focused on XSS vulnerabilities in user-generated content areas to identify any residual risks.