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Wordpress Meta Data And Taxonomies FilterWordPress extension · Pluginus

CVE-2021-20781

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-07-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.2.8 / 2.2.8 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in WordPress Meta Data Filter & Taxonomies Filter versions prior to v.1.2.8 and versions prior to v.2.2.8 allows remote attackers to hijack the authentication of administrators via unspecified vectors.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

Cross-site request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in WordPress Meta Data Filter & Taxonomies Filter plugin allows remote attackers to craft malicious requests that execute unauthorized actions with administrator privileges. The vulnerability stems from missing or inadequate anti-CSRF tokens in the plugin's administrative functions, enabling attackers to hijack authenticated administrator sessions.

MitigationUpdate WordPress Meta Data Filter & Taxonomies Filter to version 1.2.8 (for branch 1.x) or 2.2.8 (for branch 2.x) or later to obtain the vendor patch that adds proper CSRF token validation.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.

NVD · CPE data
Wordpress Meta Data And Taxonomies FilterWordPress extension
Affected:< 1.2.8>= 2.2.2, < 2.2.8

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Locate the plugin in WordPress installation
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins and search for 'Meta Data Filter' or 'Meta Data And Taxonomies Filter'
    Affected if Plugin is present in the WordPress installation
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    Click 'View Details' link next to the plugin name in the Plugins page, or check the plugin header in wp-content/plugins/mdtf-multifilter/main.php for the 'Version' comment
    Affected if Version number displayed is below 1.2.8 OR between 2.2.2 and 2.2.7 (inclusive)
  3. Verify plugin is active
    Check the 'Active' status indicator next to the plugin in the Plugins list, or query the wp_options table for option_name='active_plugins'
    Affected if Plugin is currently activated in the WordPress site

You are affected if the Meta Data Filter plugin is installed with version below 1.2.8 or between 2.2.2 and 2.2.7, as these versions lack proper CSRF token validation in administrative functions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to 1.2.8 / 2.2.8 or later
Fixed in 1.2.82.2.8
Interim mitigation

Update WordPress Meta Data Filter & Taxonomies Filter to version 1.2.8 (for branch 1.x) or 2.2.8 (for branch 2.x) or later to obtain the vendor patch that adds proper CSRF token validation.

Recommended fix High confidence

WordPress Meta Data And Taxonomies Filter version 1.2.8 (1.x branch) or version 2.2.8 (2.x branch)

  1. 1. Create a complete backup of the WordPress site (database and files)
  2. 2. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  3. 3. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  4. 4. Locate 'WordPress Meta Data And Taxonomies Filter' (may also appear as 'MDTF' or similar)
  5. 5. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the fixed version (1.2.8 for 1.x branch or 2.2.8 for 2.x branch)
  6. 6. Alternatively, manually upload the fixed version plugin zip file via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  7. 7. After update, verify the plugin version matches the fixed release
  8. 8. Test critical site functionality to ensure the update did not break existing features

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Wordpress Meta Data And Taxonomies Filter Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-20781 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data