Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A logged-in WordPress user with a low-privilege role could change settings for the Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg/Spectra plugin. That can affect site integrity, confidentiality, or availability, but the issue requires an authenticated account and is rated medium severity.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for public WordPress sites with user registration or many low-privilege accounts. For tightly controlled sites with few trusted users, handle through normal patching cadence.
Technical view
CVE-2020-36702 is a CWE-862 missing authorization flaw in several plugin AJAX actions. Versions up to and including 1.14.7 lack capability checks, allowing subscriber-level or higher authenticated users to update plugin settings. CVSS 3.1 score is 5.5.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites running Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg/Spectra at version 1.14.7 or earlier, especially sites with public registration, membership features, or many low-privilege user accounts.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Public vulnerability records and advisories exist, so defenders should assume the issue is known, but not treat it as proven exploited without additional evidence.
Researcher notes
The evidence identifies missing capability checks on several AJAX actions but does not include detailed endpoint names in the provided bundle. Validate exposure by version and role model rather than attempting exploitation.
Mitigation direction
- Update the plugin to a version newer than 1.14.7 where available.
- Review vendor and plugin advisory guidance before applying changes.
- Restrict or audit subscriber-level accounts on affected WordPress sites.
- Disable the plugin temporarily if update is not immediately possible.
Validation and detection
- Inventory WordPress sites using Ultimate Addons for Gutenberg or Spectra.
- Confirm installed plugin version is greater than 1.14.7.
- Review user registration and subscriber account exposure.
- Check site logs for unexpected plugin settings changes.
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-862: 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-2020-36702 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
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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 vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L2.13.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
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.
Missing Authorization
Missing Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.