Security Resilience

CVE-2023-0084

XSS in Wpmet Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder ≤ 3.1.2

XSS
Published
02 March 2023
Modified
08 April 2026
Patch / advisory
View advisory
CVSS Score v3.1 7.2
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.29 98th percentile
Risk Priority 77 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-0084 is a high-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Wpmet Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder. Its CVSS base score is 7.2 (High).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Protocol or Service Impersonation (T1001.003); ranked in the top 2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder plugin for WordPress is affected by a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79) in versions up to and including 3.1.2. The flaw resides in the handling of text areas within forms, where insufficient input sanitization and output escaping allow arbitrary script injection that persists and executes on the submissions page.

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit the issue over the network by submitting crafted form input that stores malicious scripts. When an administrator or other user later views the submissions page, the scripts execute in the victim's browser context, enabling actions such as session hijacking or unauthorized data access with a CVSS 3.1 score of 7.2.

Public references, including the Wordfence advisory and the WordPress plugin trac changeset, indicate that the issue was addressed by updating the plugin to a version containing improved sanitization and escaping. Site administrators are advised to apply the available patch or upgrade beyond 3.1.2.

EPSS for this CVE rose from lower values to a peak of 0.5949 before receding to the current 0.4784, indicating post-disclosure exploitation interest that warrants monitoring.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via text areas on forms in versions up to, and including, 3.1.2 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for…

more

unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page, which is the submissions page.

CWE(s)
CWE-79

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1001.003 Protocol or Service Impersonation Command And Control
Adversaries may impersonate legitimate protocols or web service traffic to disguise command and control activity and thwart analysis efforts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.004 LSA Secrets Credential Access
Adversaries with SYSTEM access to a host may attempt to access Local Security Authority (LSA) secrets, which can contain a variety of different credential materials, such as credentials for service accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
T1003.005 Cached Domain Credentials Credential Access
Adversaries may attempt to access cached domain credentials used to allow authentication to occur in the event a domain controller is unavailable.
attack.mitre.org →
T1007 System Service Discovery Discovery
Adversaries may try to gather information about registered local system services.
attack.mitre.org →
T1011 Exfiltration Over Other Network Medium Exfiltration
Adversaries may attempt to exfiltrate data over a different network medium than the command and control channel.
attack.mitre.org →
T1012 Query Registry Discovery
Adversaries may interact with the Windows Registry to gather information about the system, configuration, and installed software.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-0710Same product: Wpmet Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder
CVE-2023-0709Same product: Wpmet Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder
CVE-2023-0695Same product: Wpmet Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder
CVE-2023-0708Same product: Wpmet Metform Elementor Contact Form Builder
CVE-2023-29172Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2023-41236Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2023-24420Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2023-45050Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2023-44479Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2023-48756Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin

Affected Assets

wpmet
metform elementor contact form builder
≤ 3.1.2

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.1.2
  • V1.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

CA-8 Penetration Testing
addresses: CWE-79

Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-79

Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering
addresses: CWE-79

Output validation against expected content can reject or sanitize script content in generated web pages, reducing XSS exploitability.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
blocks

Secure SDLC practices directly target introduction of XSS via coding standards/testing (mostly), yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors unaddressed (partial).

PR.PS-02 partial match
blocks

Patching and EOL replacement can remediate known XSS instances in libraries or frameworks (partial) but do nothing to enforce input neutralization in application code (none).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.5.14 Information transfer partial match
removes
A.5.15 Access control partial match
removes
A.5.16 Identity management partial match
removes
A.5.17 Authentication information partial match
removes
A.5.18 Access rights partial match
removes
A.5.6 Contact with special interest groups partial match
blocks

A.5.6 only promotes membership in groups to improve knowledge, receive alerts, and share information; it performs no action that stops XSS exploitation (or even the underlying neutralization defect) and is a pure dependency for other controls per the owner's labeling rule.

References