Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This vulnerability lets a low-privileged WordPress account, such as a subscriber, change settings in the ShortPixel Adaptive Images plugin. The direct impact is integrity loss, not data theft or service outage. It matters where public registration or many low-trust accounts exist.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority WordPress hygiene issue. It is not documented here as actively exploited, but it can let low-trust accounts alter image optimization behavior and should be remediated promptly on externally accessible sites.
Technical view
CVE-2022-29417 is a CWE-284 access-control issue in ShortPixel Adaptive Images for WordPress versions 3.3.1 and earlier. An authenticated user with subscriber-level privileges or higher could update plugin settings. The CVSS 3.1 score is 4.3, reflecting low complexity and limited integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites running ShortPixel Adaptive Images version 3.3.1 or earlier, especially sites with subscriber accounts, customer accounts, community registration, or compromised low-privilege users.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or cited evidence of active exploitation. Exploitation requires authenticated WordPress access with at least subscriber privileges and does not require user interaction under the CVSS vector.
Researcher notes
The provided sources establish affected product, version range, privilege level, CWE, and CVSS. They do not provide request-level details, proof-of-concept status, affected settings, or a specific fixed version in the bundle, so validation should rely on local version checks and vendor advisory review.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites using ShortPixel Adaptive Images.
- Identify installations running version 3.3.1 or earlier.
- Check ShortPixel and Patchstack guidance for the fixed version.
- Upgrade away from affected versions when vendor guidance confirms availability.
- Review and limit low-privilege WordPress account access.
Validation and detection
- Check the installed ShortPixel Adaptive Images plugin version.
- Confirm whether public user registration is enabled.
- Review WordPress users with subscriber or higher roles.
- Review plugin setting changes around suspicious account activity.
- Verify remediation against vendor or Patchstack advisory details.
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-284: 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-2022-29417 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
- 4.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
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:N/I:L/A:N2.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/shortpixel-adaptive-images/#developersCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/shortpixel-adaptive-images/wordpress-shortpixel-adaptive-images-plugin-3-3-1-subscriber-plugin-settings-update-vulnerabilityCVE 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.
Improper Access Control
Improper Access Control represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.