CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2021-4368 — The Frontend File Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authenticated Settings Change in versions up to, and including, 18.2

Critical CVSS 9.9

The Frontend File Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authenticated Settings Change in versions up to, and including, 18.2. This is due to lacking capability checks and a security nonce, all on the wpfm_save_settings AJAX action. This makes it possible for subscriber-level attackers to edit the plugin settings, such as the allowed upload file types. This can lead to remote code execution through other vulnerabilities.

Severity
Critical
CVSS
9.9 (3.1)
Published
2023-06-07
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
php/wordpress
Weaknesses
CWE-862

Affected products

  • najeebmedia / frontend_file_manager_plugin

Matched remediation archetype

Authorization bypass, IDOR, and cross-tenant access

This catalog composition supplies bounded fallback guidance. Explicitly reviewed curated workflows load with the complete record below.

Check exposure

  • Map object and action authorization checks across API, UI, batch, import/export, and background-job paths.
  • Identify tenant, ownership, role, and policy boundaries for affected resources and administrative operations.
  • Use synthetic fixtures to compare intended access matrices without accessing another user's real data.

Remediate safely

  • Enforce server-side authorization at each resource access and state transition using the authenticated principal and trusted tenant context.
  • Scope data queries by tenant and ownership; treat client-supplied identifiers, roles, and policy claims as untrusted.
  • Add deny-by-default policy tests for horizontal and vertical access across every affected transport.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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