Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A vulnerable uListing WordPress plugin can let an outsider change user accounts without logging in. The reported impact includes changing an administrator email address, which can support account takeover and business disruption on affected WordPress sites.
Executive priority
Treat this as urgent for any WordPress property using uListing. The business risk is account takeover or loss of administrative control, not merely content defacement. Prioritize internet-facing sites first.
Technical view
CVE-2021-4346 is a CWE-862 missing authorization issue in uListing through 1.6.6. The stm_listing_profile_edit AJAX action lacks login checks, allowing unauthenticated account changes. The CVSS 3.1 score is 9.8 because exploitation is network-accessible, low complexity, and requires no privileges or user interaction.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites running the Directory Listings WordPress plugin – uListing at version 1.6.6 or earlier. Public WordPress sites are the highest concern because the vulnerable AJAX path is reachable remotely.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Still, the vulnerability is high urgency because it is unauthenticated, low complexity, and can affect administrator account control.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports an unauthenticated authorization bypass in an AJAX profile-edit action. The bundle names affected versions through 1.6.6 and provides Wordfence, Nintechnet, and WordPress Trac references, but does not provide exploit telemetry or detailed fixed-version metadata.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade uListing to a version newer than 1.6.6 after checking vendor guidance.
- Disable or remove uListing if an immediate upgrade is not possible.
- Review administrator email addresses and user accounts for unauthorized changes.
- Monitor vendor, WordPress plugin, Wordfence, and Nintechnet advisories for corrected version details.
Validation and detection
- Inventory WordPress sites for the uListing plugin and installed version.
- Confirm no production site is running uListing 1.6.6 or earlier.
- Review web logs for unauthenticated requests referencing stm_listing_profile_edit.
- Audit WordPress administrator accounts for recent email or profile changes.
- Check plugin changelog or WordPress Trac changeset evidence before closing remediation.
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-2021-4346 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
- Critical
- CVSS
- 9.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H3.95.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
9.8CriticalVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/41800ea9-1ace-42fc-9e7f-d760a126342b?source=cveCVE reference
- https://blog.nintechnet.com/wordpress-ulisting-plugin-fixed-multiple-critical-vulnerabilities/CVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=2456786%40ulisting&new=2456786%40ulisting&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=CVE 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.
Missing Authorization
Missing Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.