Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2022-2903 affects the Ninja Forms WordPress plugin before 3.6.13. If an administrator imports a malicious file, the plugin may deserialize unsafe data, potentially allowing severe impact to site confidentiality, integrity, and availability when a suitable PHP gadget chain exists.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for business-critical WordPress sites, especially public sites handling leads, customer data, or payments. The issue requires admin-level access, but compromise of that path could have full-site consequences.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-502 unsafe deserialization in Ninja Forms import handling. The vulnerability requires high WordPress privileges, but attack complexity is rated low once that access and a malicious import file are present. Impact is rated high across confidentiality, integrity, and availability under CVSS 3.1 score 7.2.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on WordPress sites running Ninja Forms versions earlier than 3.6.13, especially where administrator accounts can import form files. Compromised admin credentials or malicious insider activity would materially increase risk.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Exploitation depends on an admin importing a malicious file and the site having a suitable PHP gadget chain, so this is not described as unauthenticated drive-by exploitation.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to CVE/WPScan-style disclosure data. Key constraints are PR:H and the need for a malicious import plus a gadget chain. Do not assume active exploitation, unauthenticated reachability, or product impact beyond Ninja Forms before 3.6.13.
Mitigation direction
- Upgrade Ninja Forms to version 3.6.13 or later.
- Restrict WordPress administrator access to trusted users only.
- Avoid importing form files from untrusted or unverifiable sources.
- Review vendor guidance for any additional hardening recommendations.
Validation and detection
- Inventory WordPress sites using the Ninja Forms plugin.
- Confirm each installed Ninja Forms version is 3.6.13 or later.
- Review recent administrator import activity for unusual or untrusted files.
- Check whether admin accounts have MFA and least-privilege controls.
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-502: Code execution behavior lookup
Code execution and unsafe deserialization weaknesses often justify reviewing execution behavior and process telemetry. 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-2022-2903 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
- High
- CVSS
- 7.2 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H1.25.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.2HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/255b98ba-5da9-4424-a7e9-c438d8905864CVE 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.
Deserialization of Untrusted Data
Deserialization of Untrusted Data represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.