Authenticated Contributor Post Disclosure (CVE-2024-10690) in ‘Shortcodes for Elementor’ — What WordPress Site Owners Must Do Now

Date: 2026-02-03     Author: Hong Kong Security Expert     Tags: WordPress, Plugin Vulnerability, WAF, Shortcodes, Security, Patch

TL;DR — A low-severity sensitive data exposure (CVE-2024-10690) was disclosed in the Shortcodes for Elementor plugin (versions ≤ 1.0.4). An authenticated user with the Contributor role could access post data they shouldn’t see. The plugin author released version 1.0.5 to fix the issue. Update immediately where possible; if not, apply the temporary mitigations and audit for signs of access.

Overview

On 3 February 2026 a vulnerability affecting the WordPress plugin “Shortcodes for Elementor” (all versions up to and including 1.0.4) was published and assigned CVE-2024-10690. The issue is classified as Sensitive Data Exposure and requires an authenticated account with at least the Contributor role. The vendor shipped a fix in version 1.0.5.

Operationally this is low priority for many sites because an attacker must already have a site account. However, the risk is non-trivial for multi-author blogs, membership sites, editorial workflows and any environment where drafts or unpublished posts contain sensitive information. Exposed material could include post content and metadata that should be private.

What happened (short explanation)

• Vulnerability: Authenticated (Contributor+) Post Disclosure (Sensitive Data Exposure).
• Affected plugin: Shortcodes for Elementor (≤ 1.0.4).
• Fixed in: 1.0.5.
• CVE: CVE-2024-10690.
• Reporter: Francesco Carlucci (public credit in disclosure).
• Impact: A user with Contributor privileges could retrieve post content and metadata beyond their own posts (including drafts and posts by other authors).
• Severity: Low (CVSS: 4.3) — requires authenticated account; read-only exposure — but can be significant if posts contain PII or sensitive business information.

Root cause (technical summary)

This is an access-control/authorization failure. Typical pattern:

• The plugin exposes a server-side surface (REST route, admin-ajax action, or shortcode handler) that accepts a post identifier and returns post data.
• The handler performs insufficient capability checks (for example, only checks for authentication or checks the wrong capability).
• Contributors can create and edit their own posts but should not read unpublished posts by others; the missing server-side verification allowed contributors to request and receive other posts’ content.

The 1.0.5 patch corrects server-side access checks so that only permitted users receive full post content.

Why this matters — realistic attack scenarios

Even without write access or admin privileges, the information disclosure can enable several harmful outcomes:

• Confidential draft disclosure: acquisition plans, vulnerability reports, or other sensitive drafts could be exposed.
• Intellectual property leaks: embargoed posts or product specifications might be leaked prematurely.
• Compliance and privacy issues: customer PII in drafts or posts could create regulatory exposure.
• Privilege-escalation pivot: disclosed content may reveal internal URLs, API endpoints or credentials useful for further attacks.
• Social engineering: knowledge of internal processes and calendars aids targeted phishing against staff.

How to know if your site is affected

1. Plugin version:
   • Check: WordPress admin → Plugins → find “Shortcodes for Elementor”.
   • Affected: versions ≤ 1.0.4. Fixed in 1.0.5.
2. Contributor accounts:
   • Do you have Contributor users? If yes, verify their legitimacy and necessity.
3. Logs and indicators:
   • Look for authenticated requests to REST endpoints or admin-ajax.php from non-admin accounts.
   • Search for requests containing post IDs viewed by Contributor accounts that normally would not have access.
   • Check for downloads or copies of unpublished content (exports, attachments, or unexpected posts authored by low-privilege accounts).
4. Forensics:
   • Export access logs and search around the disclosure date for calls to the plugin’s endpoints.
   • Inspect wp_posts and wp_postmeta for suspicious reads or writes.

Immediate mitigation checklist (what to do right now)

1. Update the plugin to 1.0.5 (preferred)
   • Update via WordPress admin or WP-CLI:

     wp plugin update shortcode-elementor --version=1.0.5

   • Confirm the plugin version after update.
2. If you cannot update immediately:
   • Deactivate the plugin until you can apply the patch.
   • If the plugin is essential and cannot be deactivated, apply the temporary mitigations below.
3. Apply network or perimeter controls where available:
   • Block or rate-limit plugin endpoints that return post content to authenticated non-admin users.
   • Rate-limit enumeration patterns (many post_id requests from one low-privilege account in short time).
4. Restrict contributor capabilities:
   • Temporarily reduce Contributor privileges or convert high-risk accounts to Subscriber until the site is patched.
   • Audit and remove unnecessary Contributor accounts.
5. Remove exposed sensitive content:
   • Move extremely sensitive drafts out of WordPress and audit access logs for possible exfiltration.
6. Monitor logs and detection:
   • Add detection for Contributor-role access to plugin-specific endpoints and increase logging for a short window.
7. Backups:
   • Ensure you have recent full backups and validated restore points before making major changes.

Practical temporary mitigations (code you can apply)

These are stop-gap measures. Prefer a clean update to the vendor fix as soon as possible. Add to a site-specific plugin rather than theme functions.php when feasible.

1) Disable the plugin’s REST routes globally (temporary)

// Temporary: unregister plugin REST routes early
add_action( 'rest_api_init', function() {
    // If you know the route namespace and route, unregister it here.
    // Example: unregister_rest_route( 'shortcode-elementor/v1', '/post' );
    // Note: Replace the strings above with actual plugin route values.
}, 5 );

2) Block access to admin-ajax or plugin endpoints for Contributor role

add_action( 'admin_init', function() {
    if ( ! is_user_logged_in() ) {
        return;
    }
    $user = wp_get_current_user();
    if ( in_array( 'contributor', (array) $user->roles, true ) ) {
        // If plugin relies on admin-ajax actions, block known action names
        if ( isset( $_REQUEST['action'] ) && in_array( $_REQUEST['action'], array( 'shortcode_elementor_get_post' ), true ) ) {
            wp_die( 'Forbidden', '403', array( 'response' => 403 ) );
        }
    }
});

3) Hard-deny direct access to plugin PHP files via .htaccess (Apache)

# Protect plugin directory: replace /shortcode-elementor/ with actual folder
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteRule ^wp-content/plugins/shortcode-elementor/ - [F,L]
</IfModule>

Note: This blocks the plugin entirely and will break functionality; use only when you must quickly disable plugin behaviour. Remove these temporary controls once you have applied the vendor patch.

Post-incident detection and forensic steps

If you suspect the vulnerability was abused, collect and preserve evidence before further changes.

1. Log collection:
   • Web server access logs (Nginx/Apache).
   • WordPress logs (WP_DEBUG_LOG or dedicated logging plugins).
   • Any perimeter/WAF logs available.
   • Database logs if enabled.
2. Key indicators:
   • Authenticated requests (cookies) from Contributor accounts to plugin endpoints.
   • Enumeration of many different post IDs by a single low-privilege account.
   • Downloads, exports, or new posts/attachments authored by Contributor accounts that look like staging for exfiltration.
3. Database review:
   • Inspect wp_posts and wp_postmeta for exposed content or unusual changes.
   • Export and archive any drafts that are sensitive for later review.
4. User audit:
   • Review Contributor accounts for anomalous logins, IP addresses, and last-login times.
   • Enforce or enable multi-factor authentication where possible for higher-risk roles.
5. Evidence preservation:
   • Snapshot logs and databases; do not overwrite logs or restart services until snapshots are taken.
6. Clean-up:
   • If abuse is confirmed, rotate any credentials discovered in posts, reset passwords, and revoke active sessions for affected accounts.
   • Consider a clean restore from a known-good backup if integrity is in doubt.

How to validate the fix

1. After upgrading to 1.0.5:
   • Confirm the plugin version in WordPress admin.
   • Attempt to reproduce the vulnerability in a safe staging environment using an account with Contributor privileges (do not test on production without controls).
   • Monitor logs for further attempts to access previously vulnerable endpoints.
2. Use a staging environment:
   • Create a staging copy and test updates there before rolling out to production.
3. Run automated checks:
   • Use an automated plugin/version check and vulnerability database to confirm the site no longer reports the affected version.

Longer-term risk reduction and hardening checklist

• Inventory and monitor plugins:
  • Maintain an up-to-date inventory of installed plugins and versions.
  • Prioritise updates for plugins with known vulnerabilities.
• Limit user roles and capabilities:
  • Apply least privilege: users should have only the roles they require.
  • Use role-limiting or custom capability management if workflows require separation.
• Perimeter controls:
  • Use a Web Application Firewall or equivalent network controls where available to mitigate exploitation windows between disclosure and patching.
• Secure development practices:
  • Plugins must enforce server-side capability checks for any route that returns potentially sensitive content.
  • Avoid returning full post objects to unauthorised users.
• Enforce MFA for editorial accounts where feasible.
• Tighten content governance: avoid storing highly sensitive data in posts or drafts; use dedicated secure storage.
• Backup & recovery: maintain regular offsite backups and test restores frequently.

Example WAF rule concepts (for security teams)

Below are conceptual WAF rules you can implement if you manage perimeter controls or work with your hosting provider:

• Block requests to REST route patterns used by the plugin unless the authenticated user is an administrator.
  • Condition: HTTP path starts with /wp-json/shortcode-elementor/v1/
  • Action: Deny if authenticated user role ≠ administrator
• Throttle authenticated users requesting many post IDs within a short window.
  • Condition: same authenticated session requests > 10 unique post_id values in 60 seconds
  • Action: Block and alert
• Deny Contributor-role AJAX actions known to the plugin.
  • Condition: admin-ajax.php action parameter equals plugin action and user role contributor
  • Action: Deny

Communication and coordination with your team

• Notify editorial and product teams about the vulnerability and the possibility of exposed drafts.
• If sensitive content was present, involve legal and communications teams for breach assessment and disclosure planning.
• Rotate any secrets or credentials discovered in posts immediately and document remediation actions.

Why plugin authors must enforce capability checks

Developers must not assume that a user who can create a post can view arbitrary content. Server-side verification is mandatory. Recommended patterns:

• Use WordPress core capability helpers (current_user_can or user_can).
• Fetch the post server-side (get_post) and call current_user_can( ‘read_post’, $post ) or equivalent to confirm access.
• Do not rely solely on nonces or client-side checks for authorisation.

Final recommendations (summary)

• If Shortcodes for Elementor (≤ 1.0.4) is installed anywhere you manage, update to 1.0.5 immediately.
• If you cannot update right away, deactivate the plugin or apply temporary perimeter and capability restrictions as described above.
• Audit Contributor accounts, logs, and drafts for signs of exposure.
• Ensure backups exist and have an incident plan that includes log collection and forensic analysis.

About the author

This advisory is written in the practical, no-nonsense tone used by security practitioners in Hong Kong: focused on rapid risk reduction, clear evidence collection, and containment. If you require external incident response or forensic analysis, engage a trusted professional or consultancy with WordPress experience and explicit experience in plugin-related disclosures.