CVE-2021-4331
CWE-862Published: March 7, 2023· Updated: Jun 17, 2026
Official Description
The Plus Addons for Elementor plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including 4.1.9 (pro) and 2.0.6 (free). The plugin adds a registration form to the Elementor page builders functionality. As part of the registration form, users can choose which role to set as the default for users upon registration. This field is not hidden for lower-level users so any user with access to the Elementor page builder, such as contributors, can set the default role to administrator. Since contributors can not publish posts, only author+ users can elevate privileges without interaction via a site administrator (to approve a post).
Technical Analysis
CVE-2021-4331 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.
Exploitation requires low privileges, which limits the exposure to scenarios where an attacker has already gained initial access.
A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 8.8.
CVSS v3.1 Vector Breakdown
Affected Vendors & Products
Exploit & PoC Resources
Official Patches & Advisories
All References (4)
Quick Facts
Related CVEs (CWE-862)
Recommended Actions
- →Apply vendor patches immediately
- →Monitor CVE-2021-4331 in threat intel feeds
- →Review IDS/IPS signatures for exploitation attempts