CVE-2021-42359
📋 TL;DR
This vulnerability in the WP DSGVO Tools (GDPR) WordPress plugin allows unauthenticated attackers to delete any post or page on affected websites. Attackers can send specially crafted AJAX requests to move content to trash and then permanently delete it. All WordPress sites using vulnerable versions of this plugin are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- WP DSGVO Tools (GDPR) WordPress Plugin
📦 What is this software?
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Complete website defacement through deletion of all posts and pages, causing business disruption and data loss.
Likely Case
Selective deletion of important content like homepage, product pages, or blog posts, damaging website functionality and credibility.
If Mitigated
No impact if plugin is updated or disabled, as proper authentication and authorization checks prevent unauthorized deletions.
🎯 Exploit Status
Simple HTTP POST request with specific parameters required. No authentication needed.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 3.1.24
Vendor Advisory: https://wordpress.org/plugins/wp-dsgvo-tools/#developers
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. 3. Find 'WP DSGVO Tools (GDPR)'. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available, or download version 3.1.24+ from WordPress repository. 5. Activate updated plugin.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable vulnerable plugin
allTemporarily deactivate the WP DSGVO Tools plugin until patched version can be installed.
wp plugin deactivate wp-dsgvo-tools
Block vulnerable AJAX endpoint
linuxAdd web application firewall rule or .htaccess rule to block requests to admin-ajax.php with the vulnerable action parameter.
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} action=admin-dismiss-unsubscribe [NC]
RewriteRule ^wp-admin/admin-ajax\.php$ - [F,L]
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable the WP DSGVO Tools plugin immediately
- Implement web application firewall rules to block requests containing 'action=admin-dismiss-unsubscribe'
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Installed Plugins for WP DSGVO Tools version <= 3.1.23Check Version:
wp plugin get wp-dsgvo-tools --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
Confirm plugin version is 3.1.24 or higher in WordPress admin panel📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with 'action=admin-dismiss-unsubscribe' parameter
- Multiple post/page deletions from unauthenticated IP addresses
Network Indicators:
- HTTP POST requests to admin-ajax.php endpoint with specific action parameter
- Unusual deletion patterns from external IPs
SIEM Query:
source="web_logs" AND uri="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" AND method="POST" AND query_string="*action=admin-dismiss-unsubscribe*"