CVE-2021-4374WordPress Automatic Plugin <= 3.53.2 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Options Update
- 9.1CriticalCVSS base score
- 16.4%Exploitation in 30 daysEPSS · top 3.0% of all CVEs
- NoKnown exploitednot in CISA's KEV catalog
- 2Public exploitsMetasploit, Nuclei and Exploit-DB
Description
The WordPress Automatic Plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary options updates in versions up to, and including, 3.53.2. This is due to missing authorization and option validation in the process_form.php file. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to arbitrarily update the settings of a vulnerable site and ultimately compromise the entire site.
Public exploit
An exploit or proof of concept is public: anyone can try it against an unpatched system. The public collections list a Metasploit module and a Nuclei template for it.
Show the exploits2
Metasploit modules1 module
- WordPress Plugin Automatic Config Change to RCE (Metasploit module) (opens in a new tab)
auxiliary/admin/http/wp_automatic_plugin_privescRank normaldisclosed 6 Sept 2021
Nuclei templates1 template
- WordPress Automatic Plugin - Unauthenticated Options Change (Nuclei template) (opens in a new tab)
http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-4374.yamlSeverity critical
Modules, templates and exploits as listed by the Metasploit Framework (BSD-3-Clause), ProjectDiscovery's Nuclei templates (MIT) and the Exploit Database (GPLv2), read once a day. Where the data comes from
Timeline
ID reserved
By Wordfence
- 1 day later
· 1 day later
Published
- 3 years later
· 3 years later
Record updated
Changes after publication (a new score, a public exploit, EPSS crossing 1, 10 or 50 %, leaving KEV) are kept since November 2026; earlier ones are not known.
Scores
| Scored by | CVSS | Score | Vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| WordfenceCNA (assigner) | 3.1 | Critical9.1 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H |
| NVDNVD · Modified | 3.1 | Critical9.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H |
- EPSS (exploitation in 30 days)
- 16.4% · top 3.0% of all CVEs (14 Nov 2026)
- CISA SSVC
- Exploitation: none · Automatable: yes · Technical impact: partial
The list uses the assigner's score when there is one, then CISA's, then NVD's: Critical 9.1.
Affected products
ValvePress · WordPress Automatic Plugin
- affected < 3.53.3
References
Sources
The same CVE in the primary databases and aggregators, to check against.
- CVE.org record (opens in a new tab)
- CVE List JSON (GitHub) (opens in a new tab)
- NVD (opens in a new tab)
- FIRST EPSS (opens in a new tab)
- EUVD EUVD-2021-34201 (opens in a new tab)
- OSV.dev (opens in a new tab)
- GitHub Advisories (opens in a new tab)
- CIRCL Vulnerability-Lookup (opens in a new tab)
Badge for a README or a ticket
[](https://cveledger.app/cve/CVE-2021-4374)Record last updated .