Overview
CVE-2025-47492 is a critical security vulnerability affecting the ‘Drag and Drop File Upload’ feature in Elementor Forms. This vulnerability, known as a ‘Path Traversal’ flaw, can potentially allow a malicious actor to access restricted directories, which could lead to system compromise or data leakage. Given the popularity of Elementor Forms in the digital world, this vulnerability could have far-reaching implications, especially for businesses that rely on this tool for their operations. Addressing this loophole is paramount to prevent potential unauthorized access to sensitive data.
Vulnerability Summary
CVE ID: CVE-2025-47492
Severity: Critical (CVSS: 8.6)
Attack Vector: Network
Privileges Required: None
User Interaction: Required
Impact: Potential system compromise or data leakage
Affected Products
Escape the Surveillance Era
Most apps won’t tell you the truth.
They’re part of the problem.
Phone numbers. Emails. Profiles. Logs.
It’s all fuel for surveillance.
Ameeba Chat gives you a way out.
- • No phone number
- • No email
- • No personal info
- • Anonymous aliases
- • End-to-end encrypted
Chat without a trace.
Product | Affected Versions
Drag and Drop File Upload for Elementor Forms | n/a through 1.4.3
How the Exploit Works
The exploit takes advantage of the improper limitation of a pathname to a restricted directory in the Drag and Drop File Upload feature for Elementor Forms. By manipulating file upload requests, an attacker can traverse the file system to access directories that are otherwise off-limits. This could allow the attacker to access sensitive files or data and potentially gain unauthorized control over the system.
Conceptual Example Code
Here’s a conceptual example of how the vulnerability might be exploited. The malicious actor sends a crafted HTTP POST request with a manipulated file path.
POST /upload_file HTTP/1.1
Host: target.example.com
Content-Type: multipart/form-data; boundary=----WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW
Content-Disposition: form-data; name="file"; filename="../../../../etc/passwd"
Content-Type: text/plain
[contents of the file]
------WebKitFormBoundary7MA4YWxkTrZu0gW--In this example, the filename parameter is manipulated to move up the directory structure and target a sensitive file (in this case, “/etc/passwd”). If the application processes this request without adequate path validation, the contents of the targeted file could be exposed or overwritten.
Mitigation and Remediation
The remedy to this vulnerability is to apply the vendor-supplied patch. If the patch is not yet available or cannot be immediately applied, using a Web Application Firewall (WAF) or Intrusion Detection System (IDS) can serve as a temporary mitigation measure. These systems can detect and block path traversal payloads, providing a layer of security against this exploit. However, these should be considered temporary solutions until the patch can be applied.