FKIE_CVE-2021-42360

Vulnerability from fkie_nvd - Published: 2021-11-17 18:15 - Updated: 2026-06-17 04:09
Severity
7.6 (High) - CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L
5.4 (Medium) - CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Summary
On sites that also had the Elementor plugin for WordPress installed, it was possible for users with the edit_posts capability, which includes Contributor-level users, to import blocks onto any page using the astra-page-elementor-batch-process AJAX action. An attacker could craft and host a block containing malicious JavaScript on a server they controlled, and then use it to overwrite any post or page by sending an AJAX request with the action set to astra-page-elementor-batch-process and the url parameter pointed to their remotely-hosted malicious block, as well as an id parameter containing the post or page to overwrite. Any post or page that had been built with Elementor, including published pages, could be overwritten by the imported block, and the malicious JavaScript in the imported block would then be executed in the browser of any visitors to that page.
References
security@wordfence.comhttps://www.wordfence.com/blog/2021/11/over-1-million-sites-impacted-by-vulnerability-in-starter-templates-plugin/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2021/11/over-1-million-sites-impacted-by-vulnerability-in-starter-templates-plugin/Exploit, Third Party Advisory
Impacted products
Vendor Product Version
brainstormforce starter_templates *
To clipboard 

{
  "affected": [
    {
      "affectedData": [
        {
          "platforms": [
            "WordPress"
          ],
          "product": "Starter Templates \u2014 Elementor, Gutenberg \u0026 Beaver Builder Templates",
          "vendor": "BrainStormForce",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "2.7.0",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "2.7.0",
              "versionType": "custom"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "source": "security@wordfence.com"
    }
  ],
  "configurations": [
    {
      "nodes": [
        {
          "cpeMatch": [
            {
              "criteria": "cpe:2.3:a:brainstormforce:starter_templates:*:*:*:*:*:wordpress:*:*",
              "matchCriteriaId": "9BC6AA65-6190-4F4A-A83E-9D68B81B8D49",
              "versionEndIncluding": "2.7.0",
              "vulnerable": true
            }
          ],
          "negate": false,
          "operator": "OR"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "cveTags": [],
  "descriptions": [
    {
      "lang": "en",
      "value": "On sites that also had the Elementor plugin for WordPress installed, it was possible for users with the edit_posts capability, which includes Contributor-level users, to import blocks onto any page using the astra-page-elementor-batch-process AJAX action. An attacker could craft and host a block containing malicious JavaScript on a server they controlled, and then use it to overwrite any post or page by sending an AJAX request with the action set to astra-page-elementor-batch-process and the url parameter pointed to their remotely-hosted malicious block, as well as an id parameter containing the post or page to overwrite. Any post or page that had been built with Elementor, including published pages, could be overwritten by the imported block, and the malicious JavaScript in the imported block would then be executed in the browser of any visitors to that page."
    },
    {
      "lang": "es",
      "value": "En los sitios que tambi\u00e9n ten\u00edan instalado el plugin de Elementor para WordPress, era posible que usuarios con la capacidad edit_posts, que incluye a usuarios de nivel Contributor, importaran bloques en cualquier p\u00e1gina usando la acci\u00f3n AJAX astra-page-elementor-batch-process. Un atacante pod\u00eda dise\u00f1ar y alojar un bloque que contuviera JavaScript malicioso en un servidor que controlara, y luego usarlo para sobrescribir cualquier publicaci\u00f3n o p\u00e1gina enviando una petici\u00f3n AJAX con la acci\u00f3n establecida como astra-page-elementor-batch-process y el par\u00e1metro url apuntando a su bloque malicioso alojado remotamente, as\u00ed como un par\u00e1metro id que contuviera la publicaci\u00f3n o p\u00e1gina a sobrescribir. Cualquier entrada o p\u00e1gina construida con Elementor, incluidas las p\u00e1ginas publicadas, pod\u00eda ser sobrescrita por el bloque importado, y el JavaScript malicioso del bloque importado era ejecutado entonces en el navegador de cualquier visitante de esa p\u00e1gina"
    }
  ],
  "id": "CVE-2021-42360",
  "lastModified": "2026-06-17T04:09:41.330",
  "metrics": {
    "cvssMetricV2": [
      {
        "acInsufInfo": false,
        "baseSeverity": "LOW",
        "cvssData": {
          "accessComplexity": "MEDIUM",
          "accessVector": "NETWORK",
          "authentication": "SINGLE",
          "availabilityImpact": "NONE",
          "baseScore": 3.5,
          "confidentialityImpact": "NONE",
          "integrityImpact": "PARTIAL",
          "vectorString": "AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N",
          "version": "2.0"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 6.8,
        "impactScore": 2.9,
        "obtainAllPrivilege": false,
        "obtainOtherPrivilege": false,
        "obtainUserPrivilege": false,
        "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
        "type": "Primary",
        "userInteractionRequired": false
      }
    ],
    "cvssMetricV31": [
      {
        "cvssData": {
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "availabilityImpact": "LOW",
          "baseScore": 7.6,
          "baseSeverity": "HIGH",
          "confidentialityImpact": "LOW",
          "integrityImpact": "HIGH",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "scope": "UNCHANGED",
          "userInteraction": "NONE",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:H/A:L",
          "version": "3.1"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 2.8,
        "impactScore": 4.7,
        "source": "security@wordfence.com",
        "type": "Secondary"
      },
      {
        "cvssData": {
          "attackComplexity": "LOW",
          "attackVector": "NETWORK",
          "availabilityImpact": "NONE",
          "baseScore": 5.4,
          "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
          "confidentialityImpact": "LOW",
          "integrityImpact": "LOW",
          "privilegesRequired": "LOW",
          "scope": "CHANGED",
          "userInteraction": "REQUIRED",
          "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
          "version": "3.1"
        },
        "exploitabilityScore": 2.3,
        "impactScore": 2.7,
        "source": "nvd@nist.gov",
        "type": "Primary"
      }
    ],
    "ssvcV203": [
      {
        "source": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
        "ssvcData": {
          "id": "CVE-2021-42360",
          "options": [
            {
              "exploitation": "none"
            },
            {
              "automatable": "no"
            },
            {
              "technicalImpact": "partial"
            }
          ],
          "role": "CISA Coordinator",
          "timestamp": "2025-02-14T17:51:54.507922Z",
          "version": "2.0.3"
        }
      }
    ]
  },
  "published": "2021-11-17T18:15:08.227",
  "references": [
    {
      "source": "security@wordfence.com",
      "tags": [
        "Exploit",
        "Third Party Advisory"
      ],
      "url": "https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2021/11/over-1-million-sites-impacted-by-vulnerability-in-starter-templates-plugin/"
    },
    {
      "source": "af854a3a-2127-422b-91ae-364da2661108",
      "tags": [
        "Exploit",
        "Third Party Advisory"
      ],
      "url": "https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2021/11/over-1-million-sites-impacted-by-vulnerability-in-starter-templates-plugin/"
    }
  ],
  "sourceIdentifier": "security@wordfence.com",
  "vulnStatus": "Modified",
  "weaknesses": [
    {
      "description": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-79"
        },
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-99"
        },
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "CWE-284"
        }
      ],
      "source": "security@wordfence.com",
      "type": "Secondary"
    }
  ]
}



Log in or create an account to share your comment.




Tags
Taxonomy of the tags.




Drag nodes to arrange them. Double-click a related vulnerability to open it, or a source to visit its link. The Physics button on the left tunes the layout and the simulation; the legend at the bottom left hides or shows nodes by kind and by sighting type.

Forecast uses a logistic model when the trend is rising, or an exponential decay model when the trend is falling. Fitted via linearized least squares.

Sightings

Author Source Type Date Other

Nomenclature

  • Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
  • Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
  • Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
  • Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
  • Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
  • Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Vulnerability timeline

Sightings and recorded dates, grouped by day · UTC

JSON
How durations are calculated

Following the VTEM framework (Black Hat USA 2015), time to patch starts when the vendor or a coordinator was informed, total time to patch at discovery, and disclosure to patch at public disclosure; vendor response time runs from the report to its acknowledgement. Time to exploit and time unpatched start at the earliest discovery or report, falling back to public disclosure. Unpatched time ends at the first recorded patch, or the calculation time when no patch is recorded. Exploitation to patch shows the interval between those two events; a published proof of concept is a public exploit, not exploitation.

Each result shows its source dates. A negative interval means the end event came first; when date-only inputs leave the order open, the result says so. Date-only inputs are approximate. The earliest evidence wins: KEV report dates and sightings are labelled as such. Records describing another vulnerability are listed but never calculated from, and a PoC alone does not establish exploitation. Missing patch evidence does not prove that no patch exists. Filters below change the event list only.

Loading timeline…




    Related by attack behaviour

    Vulnerabilities whose description is nearest to this one in the vector space of the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-biencoder model. This is a similarity search over the bi-encoder space (plain cosine), not a classification, and it has no measured accuracy.