CVE-2021-4348 – The Ultimate GDPR & CCPA WordPress plugin has a... (How to Fix)

Q: What is the severity of CVE-2021-4348?

CVE-2021-4348 has a CVSS score of 7.5 (HIGH). The Ultimate GDPR & CCPA WordPress plugin has an unauthenticated settings import/export vulnerability in versions up to 2.4. Attackers can modify plugin settings without authentication, potentially redirecting visitors to malicious sites. All WordPress sites using vulnerable plugin versions are affected.

📋 TL;DR

The Ultimate GDPR & CCPA WordPress plugin has an unauthenticated settings import/export vulnerability in versions up to 2.4. Attackers can modify plugin settings without authentication, potentially redirecting visitors to malicious sites. All WordPress sites using vulnerable plugin versions are affected.

💻 Affected Systems

Products:

WordPress Ultimate GDPR & CCPA Compliance Toolkit plugin

Versions: All versions up to and including 2.4

Operating Systems: Any OS running WordPress

Default Config Vulnerable: ⚠️ Yes

Notes: All WordPress installations with vulnerable plugin versions are affected regardless of configuration.

📦 What is this software?

Ultimate Gdpr \& Ccpa Compliance Toolkit by Createit

View all CVEs affecting Ultimate Gdpr \& Ccpa Compliance Toolkit →

⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact

🔴

Worst Case

Attackers redirect all site visitors to phishing/malware sites, steal sensitive data via modified GDPR settings, or disable security features.

🟠

Likely Case

Attackers modify settings to redirect traffic, inject malicious content, or disable compliance features.

🟢

If Mitigated

With proper access controls and monitoring, impact is limited to temporary service disruption.

🌐 Internet-Facing: HIGH - WordPress sites are typically internet-facing and the exploit requires no authentication.

🏢 Internal Only: LOW - This primarily affects public-facing WordPress installations.

🎯 Exploit Status

Public PoC: ⚠️ Yes

Weaponized: LIKELY

Unauthenticated Exploit: ⚠️ Yes

Complexity: LOW

Simple HTTP requests to vulnerable endpoints can trigger the exploit.

🛠️ Fix & Mitigation

✅ Official Fix

Patch Version: 2.5 and later

Vendor Advisory: https://wordpress.org/plugins/gdpr-cookie-compliance/

Restart Required: No

Instructions:

1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins. 3. Find 'Ultimate GDPR & CCPA Compliance Toolkit'. 4. Click 'Update Now' or manually update to version 2.5+. 5. Verify plugin is active and functioning.

🔧 Temporary Workarounds

Disable vulnerable plugin

all

Temporarily disable the plugin until patched

wp plugin deactivate gdpr-cookie-compliance

Web application firewall rule

all

Block requests to vulnerable endpoints

Block HTTP requests containing 'export_settings' or 'import_settings' parameters

🧯 If You Can't Patch

Remove the plugin completely and use alternative GDPR compliance solutions
Implement strict web application firewall rules to block unauthenticated access to admin-ajax.php endpoints

🔍 How to Verify

Check if Vulnerable:

Check WordPress admin panel > Plugins > Ultimate GDPR & CCPA Compliance Toolkit version

Check Version:

wp plugin get gdpr-cookie-compliance --field=version

Verify Fix Applied:

Confirm plugin version is 2.5 or higher in WordPress admin

📡 Detection & Monitoring

Log Indicators:

HTTP requests to admin-ajax.php with export_settings or import_settings parameters from unauthenticated IPs
Unusual plugin setting changes in WordPress logs

Network Indicators:

POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=export_settings or action=import_settings

SIEM Query:

source="wordpress.logs" AND ("export_settings" OR "import_settings") AND NOT user!="unauthenticated"

📊 Metadata

CVE ID: CVE-2021-4348

CVSS v3 Score: 7.5 (HIGH)

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

CWE: CWE-601

Published: June 7, 2023

Last Updated: November 21, 2024

🔗 References

https://blog.nintechnet.com/critical-vulnerability-in-wordpress-ultimate-gdpr-ccpa-compliance-toolkit-plugin/ Exploit,Technical Description,Third Party Advisory
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/40e2e8fb-ea36-4602-bead-8daf75d6dfb9?source=cve Third Party Advisory
https://blog.nintechnet.com/critical-vulnerability-in-wordpress-ultimate-gdpr-ccpa-compliance-toolkit-plugin/ Exploit,Technical Description,Third Party Advisory
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/40e2e8fb-ea36-4602-bead-8daf75d6dfb9?source=cve Third Party Advisory

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🔗 Related Vulnerabilities

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