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Elementor Header\, Footer \& Blocks TemplateWordPress extension · Brainstormforce

CVE-2021-24256

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-05-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.5.8 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The “Elementor – Header, Footer & Blocks Template” WordPress Plugin before 1.5.8 has two widgets that are vulnerable to stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) by lower-privileged users such as contributors, all via a similar method.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Elementor – Header, Footer & Blocks Template WordPress plugin before version 1.5.8 contains two widgets vulnerable to stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS). Lower-privileged users such as contributors can inject malicious JavaScript through these widgets, which executes when other users view the affected pages.

MitigationUpdate the Elementor – Header, Footer & Blocks Template plugin to version 1.5.8 or later to remediate the XSS vulnerability. Review and validate that proper input sanitization and output encoding are applied to all widget fields.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Elementor Header\, Footer \& Blocks TemplateWordPress extension
Affected:< 1.5.8

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check the installed version of the Elementor Header, Footer & Blocks plugin
    Go to WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate 'Elementor - Header, Footer & Blocks Template'. Note the version number displayed, or use wp-cli: wp plugin get header-footer-elementor --field=version
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 1.5.8 (for example, 1.5.7, 1.5.6, etc.)
  2. Identify if the vulnerable widgets are in active use
    Review pages/posts using Elementor editor, or query the WordPress database: SELECT * FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key LIKE '%elementor%' AND meta_value LIKE '%widget_name%'; Check for any custom widgets in header/footer templates
    Affected if The plugin's custom widgets (particularly in header/footer template assignments) are present in published content
  3. Inspect the database for suspicious script injections in Elementor data
    Examine the wp_postmeta table for the elementor_data meta_key entries. Look for script tags, javascript: URLs, or event handlers (onclick, onerror, onload) in meta_value fields: SELECT post_id, meta_value FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key = '_elementor_data'
    Affected if Raw HTML containing <script> tags, event handlers, or encoded JavaScript payloads is found in _elementor_data fields
  4. Review user roles with contributor-level access
    In WordPress admin > Users, list all users with 'Contributor' role. These users have the privilege level that can exploit this XSS
    Affected if There are contributor users who have authored or edited Elementor pages using the affected plugin widgets

You are affected if the plugin version is below 1.5.8 AND the plugin's widgets are being used in published pages or templates on your site.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.5.8 or later
Fixed in 1.5.8
Interim mitigation

Update the Elementor – Header, Footer & Blocks Template plugin to version 1.5.8 or later to remediate the XSS vulnerability. Review and validate that proper input sanitization and output encoding are applied to all widget fields.

Fix this in Elementor Header\, Footer \& Blocks Template Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-24256 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data