BuddyPress 5.0.0-7.2.0 — Privilege Escalation via REST API
CVE-2021-21389Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: 5.0.0 – 7.2.0Update to 7.2.1 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- High8.8
- CVSS
- 8.8CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:HWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:LPrivileges required- Low
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:HConfidentiality- High
I:HIntegrity- High
A:HAvailability- High
- Weakness
- CWE-863 Incorrect Authorization
- Required access
- Unknown
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
BuddyPress buddypress
- Affected5.0.0 – 7.2.0
- Patched in7.2.1
Update to 7.2.1 or newer.
You are affected if you run 5.0.0 – 7.2.0. Version 7.2.1 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under BuddyPress.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
What to do
- Update to version 7.2.1, or a newer patched version
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch BuddyPress to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Kien.
BuddyPress is an open source WordPress plugin to build a community site. In releases of BuddyPress from 5.0.0 before 7.2.1 it's possible for a non-privileged, regular user to obtain administrator rights by exploiting an issue in the REST API members endpoint. The vulnerability has been fixed in BuddyPress 7.2.1. Existing installations of the plugin should be updated to this version to mitigate the issue.
Exploits & references
Proof-of-concept & detection
No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.
Advisories & patches
- Advisorywordfence.com
Related CVEs
More in BuddyPress
All 31| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium6.5 | Authenticated (Subscriber+) SQL Injection ≤14.5.2Update to 14.5.3 | CVE-2026-115965 | |
| Medium6.5 | Authenticated (Subscriber+) SQL Injection ≤14.5.2Update to 14.5.3 | CVE-2026-111850 | |
| Medium4.3 | Insecure Direct Object Reference to Notifications Deletion ≤14.3.3Update to 14.3.4 | CVE-2024-12145 | |
| High7.5 | Authenticated (Subscriber+) PHP Object Injection via XProfile Field Data ≤14.5.0No patch available | CVE-2026-1360 | |
| Medium4.3 | Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Private Messages Disclosure ≤14.4.0Update to 14.5.0 | CVE-2026-8155 |
- Medium6.5Authenticated (Subscriber+) SQL Injection
≤14.5.2Update to 14.5.3
- Medium6.5Authenticated (Subscriber+) SQL Injection
≤14.5.2Update to 14.5.3
- Medium4.3Insecure Direct Object Reference to Notifications Deletion
≤14.3.3Update to 14.3.4
- High7.5Authenticated (Subscriber+) PHP Object Injection via XProfile Field Data
≤14.5.0No patch available
- Medium4.3Insecure Direct Object Reference to Authenticated (Subscriber+) Private Messages Disclosure
≤14.4.0Update to 14.5.0
Timeline
CVE published
Severity high, CVSS 8.8
Record last updated
Sources & licenses
Wordfence record- Vulnerability data
- Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0.
- CVE® identifiers
- Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. Used under the CVE Program. CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
- CVSS / CWE
- National Vulnerability Database (NVD), shown unmodified. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- VulnCrest content
- Summary, remediation guidance and page layout © VulnCrest. Not sourced from NVD.