CVE-2021-24215 | Controlled Admin Access < 1.5.2 - Improper Access Control & Privilege Escalation

Exp

An Improper Access Control vulnerability was discovered in the Controlled Admin Access WordPress plugin before 1.5.2. Uncontrolled access to the website customization functionality and global CMS settings, like /wp-admin/customization.php and /wp-admin/options.php, can lead to a complete compromise of the target resource.

Published: 2021-04-12 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-24215 is rated High Exploit Risk (82.4/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 9.73%, 95th percentile). Core evidence: 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). Mandatory action: Public exploits are available—assess exposure, apply mitigations, and prioritize patching.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Public exploit references (Exploit-DB) for CVE-2021-24215

EDB-ID Source Kind Published Link
nvd_ref exploit_tag Exploit-DB ↗

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-24215

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 54.59% 9.73% -44.85%
2 2026-02-23 37.38% 54.59% +17.20%
3 2025-11-21 37.38%

Full EPSS history (27 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-24215

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
3.9 5.9 [email protected]
10.0 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:C/I:C/A:C Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:C)
Complete confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:C)
Complete integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:C)
Complete availability impact.
10.0 10.0 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-24215

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-24215

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
wpruby controlled_admin_access < 1.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:wpruby:controlled_admin_access:*:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*

References for CVE-2021-24215

cvelogic Threat Intelligence