Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This WordPress plugin issue lets an outside attacker abuse an administrator’s browser to trigger plugin update behavior, if the administrator can be tricked into clicking or visiting attacker-controlled content. The known impact is limited integrity change, not data theft or service outage, but it still matters for sites running WP Project Manager 2.4.0 or older.
Executive priority
Treat this as a routine but real WordPress hygiene issue. It is not presented as actively exploited and requires administrator interaction, but affected public sites should be updated promptly because administrator-driven CSRF can alter site state.
Technical view
CVE-2020-36745 is a CSRF vulnerability in WP Project Manager through 2.4.0, tied to missing or incorrect nonce validation in do_updates(). It is unauthenticated from the attacker side but requires administrator user interaction. The CVSS 3.1 score is 4.3 with low integrity impact only.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites with the WP Project Manager plugin installed at version 2.4.0 or earlier. Sites without this plugin, or on versions outside the vulnerable range, are not indicated as affected by the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The provided sources do not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Exploitation requires social engineering an administrator into performing an action such as clicking a link, so risk depends on administrator exposure and plugin version.
Researcher notes
The evidence identifies CWE-352 and the do_updates() nonce validation weakness. Public source detail is enough for version-based triage and defensive validation, but not enough to assert exploitation in the wild or broader product impact beyond WP Project Manager through 2.4.0.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for WP Project Manager plugin usage.
- Upgrade affected installations to a vendor-supported version newer than 2.4.0.
- Check vendor or WordPress plugin guidance for the confirmed fixed release.
- Restrict administrator browsing from logged-in WordPress sessions where practical.
- Review security controls that detect forged administrative requests.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether WP Project Manager is installed and record its version.
- Flag any installation running version 2.4.0 or earlier.
- Verify administrative update actions enforce valid nonce checks.
- Review WordPress logs for unexpected update actions during administrator sessions.
- Confirm remediation by rechecking plugin version after update.
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-352: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. 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-2020-36745 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
- 4.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
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:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N2.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/456c13f5-4a8b-4eea-a2a0-f37f8508551b?source=cveCVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/25-wordpress-plugins-vulnerable-to-csrf-attacks/CVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/more-wordpress-plugins-and-themes-vulnerable-to-csrf-attacks/CVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/multiple-wordpress-plugins-fixed-csrf-vulnerabilities-part-3/CVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/multiple-wordpress-plugins-fixed-csrf-vulnerabilities-part-2/CVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/multiple-wordpress-plugins-fixed-csrf-vulnerabilities-part-1/CVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/multiple-wordpress-plugins-fixed-csrf-vulnerabilities-part-5/CVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/multiple-wordpress-plugins-fixed-csrf-vulnerabilities-part-4/CVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wedevs-project-manager/tags/2.4.1/core/Upgrades/Upgrade.php?rev=2368374#L179CVE reference
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.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.