Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This WordPress flaw let a logged-in Contributor publish content they should only have been able to submit for review. The main business risk is unauthorized public content, reputational damage, or misuse of a trusted site. It is old and version-specific, not evidence of server takeover.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for any internet-facing legacy WordPress site with multiple authors. The issue is not described as critical, but it can undermine trust in published content.
Technical view
CWE-284 access-control weakness in WordPress wp-admin/press-this.php. Sources state WordPress before 3.0.6 and 3.1.2 improperly checked permissions when publishing posts, allowing Contributor-level users to act as though they had publish_posts permission.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to WordPress installations older than 3.0.6 or 3.1.2 where Contributor-level accounts exist or could be compromised.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show active exploitation, KEV listing, public exploit status, CVSS scoring, or unauthenticated impact. Abuse requires Contributor-level privileges based on the bundle.
Researcher notes
Evidence is sparse: no CVSS vector, exploit reference, or detailed vendor advisory is included. Treat this as an authenticated authorization bypass affecting publishing rights, and avoid expanding impact beyond content publication.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade affected WordPress installations beyond 3.0.6 or 3.1.2.
- Prefer moving legacy WordPress sites to a currently supported release.
- Review and remove unnecessary Contributor-level accounts.
- Restrict posting workflows until vendor guidance and upgrade status are confirmed.
- Review recent public posts from Contributor accounts for unauthorized publication.
Validation and detection
- Inventory WordPress versions across public and internal sites.
- Confirm no production site runs WordPress before 3.0.6 or 3.1.2.
- List users with Contributor-level privileges.
- Check whether Contributor-authored posts were published without normal approval.
- Document upgrade status and remaining exceptions.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-284: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2011-1762 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Unknown
- CVSS
- Not scored
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS and timeline data
No CVSS vectors or timeline events were available in the normalized CVE source material.
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-3-1-2/CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Access Control
Improper Access Control represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.