Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-24474 affects the Awesome Weather Widget WordPress plugin through version 3.0.2. A public AJAX action fails to clean user input, allowing reflected cross-site scripting. A successful attack would usually require a victim to interact with a crafted request, but the vulnerable endpoint is described as unauthenticated.
Executive priority
Handle as a near-term WordPress hygiene issue, not a confirmed emergency. The business risk is user or administrator browser compromise through a vulnerable public plugin, with no active exploitation evidence in the provided sources.
Technical view
The plugin does not sanitize the id parameter in the awesome_weather_refresh AJAX action. That creates CWE-79 reflected XSS exposure in Awesome Weather Widget through 3.0.2. The bundle does not provide CVSS details, a fixed version, or proof of exploitation in the wild.
Likely exposure
Public WordPress sites using Awesome Weather Widget through 3.0.2 are the likely exposed population. Exposure is higher where the plugin remains enabled on internet-facing sites and the unauthenticated AJAX action is reachable.
Exploitation context
The source describes unauthenticated reflected XSS, but does not cite active exploitation. The CVE is not listed as KEV in the provided bundle. Treat exploit status as unconfirmed unless later vendor, WPScan, or CISA evidence says otherwise.
Researcher notes
The evidence is limited to the CVE description and WPScan reference. No CVSS vector, patch version, exploit-in-the-wild confirmation, or vendor advisory is provided in the bundle. Avoid overstating scope beyond Awesome Weather Widget through 3.0.2.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for Awesome Weather Widget through version 3.0.2.
- Check WPScan, CVE, and plugin vendor guidance for a maintained fixed version.
- Disable or remove the plugin where no trusted fix is available.
- Prioritize public sites with authenticated users or admin workflows.
- Document the decision and owner for each affected WordPress property.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Awesome Weather Widget is installed and enabled.
- Record the installed plugin version for each WordPress site.
- Verify whether the unauthenticated AJAX action is reachable from the internet.
- Review application logs for suspicious requests to awesome_weather_refresh.
- Retest after update, disablement, or removal.
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-79: 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-2021-24474 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://wpscan.com/vulnerability/49bc46a8-9d55-4fa1-8e0d-0556a6336fa0CVE 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 Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.