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Home / Threats / CVE-2021-21389

CVE-2021-21389 - Buddypress Plugin

CVE-2021-21389

Vulnerability CVE-2021-21389 PLUGIN buddypress HIGH

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.

CVE-2021-21389

HIGH CVSS 8.1 Published 2021-03-26 Updated 2024-11-21
AI Risk Critical (100/100) Active Exploit: Likely Published Exploit: Public exploit references found Priority: P1 Immediate
Severity Band HIGH
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
Affected Components 2
Reference Links 3
AI Risk Engine Critical (100/100)
Exploitability High
Active Exploitation Likely
Published Exploit Status Public exploit references found

Threat Timeline

  1. 2021-03-26 CVE published and first recorded in the threat feed.
  2. 2024-11-21 Record updated with latest vulnerability metadata.
  3. 2026-04-11 AI technical context refreshed for mitigation and impact guidance.
  4. Now Monitoring for follow-up changes, linked references, and new related CVEs.

AI Context

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AI Updated 6 days ago

AI enriched 6 days ago (2026-04-11 00:42 UTC)

Technical Summary

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.

Potential Impact

Severity is HIGH (CVSS 8.1). Depending on deployment context, affected components may be exposed to unauthorized actions or data integrity risk.

Exploitability Assessment

Exploitability is assessed as High based on published exploit references, remote code execution potential.

Primary risk drivers: published exploit references, remote code execution potential

Mitigation Recommendations

Validate affected product versions, prioritize patching, and monitor references for vendor remediation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, apply compensating controls and limit exposure of vulnerable surfaces.

Detection & Monitoring

Track authentication anomalies, unexpected file writes, and suspicious plugin API activity around affected components.

Business Impact Lens

AI risk score 100/100 (Critical, High) with priority P1 Immediate. Prioritize remediation where affected components process customer data, admin sessions, or Internet-exposed workflows.

Affected Products

Buddypress PLUGIN · buddypress Affected: >= 5.0.0, < 7.2.1 Fixed in: 7.2.1
To Build A Community Site PLUGIN · to-build-a-community-site Affected: >= 5.0.0, < 7.2.1 Fixed in: 7.2.1
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