Security Resilience

CVE-2023-3124

Access Control in Elementor Pro ≤ 3.11.7

Public PoCAccess Control
Published
07 June 2023
Modified
08 April 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 8.8
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
EPSS Score 0.23 98th percentile
Risk Priority 78 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-2023-3124 is a high-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Elementor Elementor Pro. Its CVSS base score is 8.8 (High).

Operationally, ranked in the top 2% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

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 Elementor Pro plugin for WordPress is affected by CVE-2023-3124, a vulnerability involving unauthorized data modification stemming from a missing capability check in the update_page_option function. This issue impacts versions up to and including 3.11.6 and carries a CVSS score of 8.8.

Authenticated attackers with subscriber-level access can exploit the flaw to update arbitrary site options, potentially achieving privilege escalation on the affected WordPress installation.

References including those from Wordfence and NinTechNet provide further details on the issue. The EPSS score reached a peak of 0.2650 after disclosure before receding to the current value of 0.1856, indicating emerging exploitation interest that may warrant renewed attention.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The Elementor Pro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized data modification due to a missing capability check on the update_page_option function in versions up to, and including, 3.11.6. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers with subscriber-level capabilities to…

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update arbitrary site options, which can lead to privilege escalation.

CWE(s)

Related Threats

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-33922Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2022-1329Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2024-1686Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2024-56225Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2024-10591Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2024-30477Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2024-0201Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2024-3869Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2025-3780Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin
CVE-2023-27608Same product class: WordPress / CMS plugin

Affected Assets

elementor
elementor pro
≤ 3.11.7

Mitigating Controls

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.

addresses: CWE-862

Requiring an access control policy ensures authorization checks are defined and applied for critical functions.

addresses: CWE-862

Reviews of access controls detect missing authorization checks on critical functions or resources.

addresses: CWE-862

Documenting permitted unauthenticated actions prevents missing authorization by making all exceptions explicit and subject to organizational review.

addresses: CWE-862

Requiring attribute association with information prevents authorization from being performed without necessary security or privacy context.

addresses: CWE-862

Mandating authorization prior to allowing remote connections addresses missing authorization for remote access.

addresses: CWE-862

Mandating authorization before wireless connections are allowed prevents missing authorization for wireless access.

addresses: CWE-862

The control requires authorization before allowing mobile device connections, directly mitigating missing authorization for system access.

addresses: CWE-862

Requiring approvals for account creation and specifying authorizations ensures authorization is not missing for system access.

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.

blocks

Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.

blocks

A.5.18's provisioning, review, revocation and activation steps (incl. owner approval, SoD, timely removal on role/termination change) directly stop exploitation of missing authorization checks by ensuring no actor receives or retains rights to resources they should not access; the bounded remainder is that it cannot stop missing-authorization defects inside the enforcement mechanism itself once rights have been granted (e.g. flawed code that ignores the rights table).

finds

By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.

blocks

A.5.8 integrates risk assessment, requirements elicitation and governance into the project lifecycle so that authorization needs can be identified and specified; it does not itself perform or enforce authorization checks, so the missing-authorization weakness can still be present and exploitable.

blocks

Security checkpoints and explicit authorization requirements in the design phase ensure that every sensitive function is paired with an access-control check, reducing missing-authorization defects.

blocks

A.8.27 mandates security-by-design principles (least privilege, default deny, security architecture integration, zero-trust never-trust/always-verify, dynamic access control) plus design reviews that directly specify and enforce authorization checks before access; this stops most missing-authorization cases from being exploitable, with a bounded remainder in non-architectural or legacy components where the principles were documented but not fully applied.

Hardening callouts derived

DISA STIG baselines are authored against specific weaknesses. Where this CVE cites a broad weakness class, the mapping is not asserted at that abstraction (owner ruling, 2026-09-25: grade only at Base and below), so no rule is shown here rather than a rule shown against the wrong grain.

  • No fine-grained STIG row for CWE-862, a class-level weakness, and none of its children carries one either.

References