CVE-2021-25032 | PublishPress Capabilities < 2.3.1 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Options Update to Blog Compromise

Exp

The PublishPress Capabilities WordPress plugin before 2.3.1, PublishPress Capabilities Pro WordPress plugin before 2.3.1 does not have authorisation and CSRF checks when updating the plugin's settings via the init hook, and does not ensure that the options to be updated belong to the plugin. As a result, unauthenticated attackers could update arbitrary blog options, such as the default role and make any new registered user with an administrator role.

Published: 2022-01-10 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2021-25032 is rated High Exploit Risk (81.8/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 6.74%, 93th percentile). 1 public exploit reference(s) are indexed (Exploit-DB). 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-2021-25032

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-25032

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 81.89% 6.74% -75.14%
2 2025-11-21 73.93% 81.89% +7.96%
3 2025-11-18 — 73.93% —

Full EPSS history (35 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-25032

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]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P 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:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-25032

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-25032

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
publishpress capabilities < 2.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:publishpress:capabilities:*:*:*:*:-:wordpress:*:*
publishpress capabilities < 2.3.1 cpe:2.3:a:publishpress:capabilities:*:*:*:*:pro:wordpress:*:*

References for CVE-2021-25032

cvelogic Threat Intelligence