Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-36891 affects the WordPress Photo Gallery by Supsystic plugin through version 1.15.5. A successful attack could trick an administrator into changing plugin settings without intending to. The business risk is configuration tampering, not direct data theft or server takeover based on the provided sources.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate-priority WordPress plugin issue. It does not indicate direct compromise, but affected public sites should be reviewed because settings tampering can affect site behavior, reliability, or business presentation.
Technical view
The issue is a CSRF vulnerability, CWE-352, in Photo Gallery by Supsystic <= 1.15.5. The CVSS 3.1 score is 5.4, with network attack vector, low complexity, no attacker privileges, and required user interaction. Impact is limited integrity and availability change through plugin settings modification.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites that have Photo Gallery by Supsystic installed at version 1.15.5 or earlier. Sites without this plugin, or outside the affected version range, are not indicated as affected by the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires user interaction, likely involving an authenticated administrator being induced to trigger an unintended settings change.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports CSRF leading to plugin settings change only. Do not expand scope beyond Photo Gallery by Supsystic <= 1.15.5 without additional vendor evidence. No exploit-in-the-wild claim is supported by the provided KEV flag or source bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for Photo Gallery by Supsystic installations.
- Check installed plugin versions and flag 1.15.5 or earlier.
- Follow WordPress, vendor, or Patchstack guidance for updating or replacing the plugin.
- Review plugin settings for unexpected changes on affected sites.
- Limit administrator exposure to untrusted links until remediation is confirmed.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether the plugin is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record the installed plugin version and compare it with <= 1.15.5.
- Review plugin configuration for unauthorized or unexpected setting changes.
- Check vendor, WordPress, and Patchstack pages for current remediation guidance.
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-2021-36891 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:N/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:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L2.82.5Primary 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:N/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/gallery-by-supsystic/#developersCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/gallery-by-supsystic/wordpress-photo-gallery-by-supsystic-plugin-1-15-5-cross-site-request-forgery-csrf-leading-to-plugin-settings-changeCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
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.