Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2021-4446 affects the WordPress Essential Addons for Elementor plugin through version 4.6.4. A logged-in low-privilege user, such as a subscriber, could perform actions they should not be allowed to perform, including changing settings and installing plugins. This is a meaningful site-integrity risk, especially where public registration or many user accounts exist.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority WordPress remediation. It is not confirmed as actively exploited in the provided evidence, but it can let low-privilege users change site behavior and install plugins.
Technical view
The issue is a missing authorization control in Essential Addons for Elementor <=4.6.4, classified as CWE-862. The CVSS 3.1 score is 6.3 with network access, low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and low confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact. The source notes missing capability checks and nonce disclosure.
Likely exposure
WordPress sites running Essential Addons for Elementor up to and including 4.6.4 are the relevant exposure. Risk is higher where untrusted or numerous authenticated users have subscriber-level access.
Exploitation context
The provided bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or any cited evidence of active exploitation. The described attack requires an authenticated account with minimal permissions and does not require user interaction.
Researcher notes
Focus validation on authorization boundaries around plugin settings and plugin-install actions. Evidence identifies missing capability checks and nonce disclosure, but the bundle does not provide exploit details, active exploitation evidence, or a named fixed version.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for Essential Addons for Elementor version 4.6.4 or older.
- Update to a vendor-supported version newer than the affected range after confirming vendor guidance.
- Temporarily disable the plugin if an update cannot be applied promptly.
- Restrict or review low-privilege authenticated accounts, especially subscriber accounts.
- Review recent plugin installations and Essential Addons settings for unauthorized changes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm the installed plugin version on each WordPress site.
- Verify the plugin is no longer at or below version 4.6.4.
- Check whether public registration or untrusted subscriber accounts are enabled.
- Review administrative logs for unexpected plugin installs or settings changes.
- Track remediation against the CVE and Wordfence advisory references.
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 lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-4446 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
- 6.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/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:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L2.83.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/283fb581-8b61-4008-a5c4-2e1490fab33e?source=cveCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=2526471%40essential-addons-for-elementor-lite&new=2526471%40essential-addons-for-elementor-lite&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.