Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-23227 is a CSRF issue in the WordPress PHP Everywhere plugin, reported for versions up to 2.0.2. A successful attack would require tricking a logged-in user into taking an action. The available sources indicate limited confidentiality and integrity impact, with no availability impact.
Executive priority
Treat this as a medium-priority WordPress hygiene issue. It is not KEV-listed and needs user interaction, but affected public sites should still be checked because plugin-level CSRF can alter site behavior or content through trusted sessions.
Technical view
The CVE describes CWE-352 in Alexander Fuchs PHP Everywhere for WordPress. CVSS 3.1 is 5.4: network reachable, low complexity, no attacker privileges, user interaction required, unchanged scope, low confidentiality and integrity impact. The source bundle does not identify the exact affected action, endpoint, patch version, or operational workaround.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on WordPress sites with PHP Everywhere installed at version 2.0.2 or earlier. Evidence for affected version ranges is limited to the CVE title and description in the supplied sources.
Exploitation context
The bundle provides no evidence of active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked as KEV. The CVSS vector requires user interaction, which is consistent with CSRF risk against a logged-in WordPress user.
Researcher notes
The public bundle is sparse. It confirms CSRF, product, severity, and a <=2.0.2 affected statement, but not the vulnerable request, required victim role, patch version, or exploitation reports. Avoid assuming impact beyond low confidentiality and integrity from CVSS.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for the PHP Everywhere plugin.
- Update, disable, or remove PHP Everywhere if version 2.0.2 or earlier is present.
- Check vendor, WordPress plugin, and Patchstack guidance for a named fixed version.
- Review recent WordPress administrative changes for unexpected content or plugin behavior.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether PHP Everywhere is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record the installed plugin version and compare it with the reported affected range.
- Verify available vendor or WordPress plugin repository guidance before declaring remediation complete.
- Review WordPress audit logs for suspicious authenticated user actions.
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-2021-23227 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
- 5.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/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:L/I:L/A:N2.82.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
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.