CVE-2021-4225 | SP Project & Document Manager < 4.24 - Subscriber+ Shell Upload

Exp

The SP Project & Document Manager WordPress plugin before 4.24 allows any authenticated users, such as subscribers, to upload files. The plugin attempts to prevent PHP and other similar files that could be executed on the server from being uploaded by checking the file extension. It was discovered that on Windows servers, the security checks in place were insufficient, enabling bad actors to potentially upload backdoors on vulnerable sites.

Published: 2022-04-25 Last update: 2024-11-21 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2021-4225 is rated High Exploit Risk (79/100): CVSS High severity, with medium exploitation likelihood (EPSS 1.55%). Core evidence: 2 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-2021-4225

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-4225

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 2026-03-06 1.19% 1.55% +0.37%
2 2025-11-21 1.15% 1.19% +0.04%
3 2025-11-18 1.15%

Full EPSS history (15 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-4225

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
8.8 3.1 HIGH
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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:L)
A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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.
2.8 5.9 [email protected]
6.5 2.0 MEDIUM
AV:N/AC:L/Au:S/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:S)
A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
8.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-4225

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-4225

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
smartypantsplugins sp_project_\&_document_manager < 4.24 cpe:2.3:a:smartypantsplugins:sp_project_\&_document_manager:*:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*

References for CVE-2021-4225

cvelogic Threat Intelligence