CVE-2020-36721 Explained : Impact and Mitigation

CVE-2020-36721, assigned by Wordfence, affects WordPress themes Brilliance, Activello, and Newspaper X.

Understanding CVE-2020-36721

This CVE involves a vulnerability in WordPress themes that allows unauthenticated attackers to activate and deactivate arbitrary plugins on vulnerable sites.

What is CVE-2020-36721?

The vulnerability stems from missing capability and security checks/nonces in specific functions of the affected themes, enabling unauthorized plugin manipulation.

The Impact of CVE-2020-36721

The vulnerability poses a medium severity risk, with a CVSS base score of 6.5, allowing attackers to exploit plugin activation and deactivation on affected WordPress sites.

Technical Details of CVE-2020-36721

The following technical details outline the specifics of CVE-2020-36721:

Vulnerability Description

The 'activello_activate_plugin' and 'activello_deactivate_plugin' functions lack necessary security measures, enabling unauthorized plugin control.

Affected Systems and Versions

Brilliance <= 1.2.7
Activello <= 1.4.0
Newspaper X <= 1.3.1

Exploitation Mechanism

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit the vulnerability to manipulate plugins on vulnerable WordPress sites.

Mitigation and Prevention

Protect your WordPress site from CVE-2020-36721 with the following measures:

Immediate Steps to Take

Update affected themes to patched versions immediately.
Monitor plugin activations and deactivations for suspicious activities.

Long-Term Security Practices

Regularly audit and update themes and plugins to prevent vulnerabilities.
Implement strong authentication mechanisms to restrict unauthorized access.

Patching and Updates

Install security patches provided by theme developers to address the vulnerability effectively.