Advanced Custom FieldsWordPress extension · Advancedcustomfields
CVE-2021-20867
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 · uneditedAdvanced Custom Fields versions prior to 5.11 and Advanced Custom Fields Pro versions prior to 5.11 contain a missing authorization vulnerability in moving the field group which may allow a user to move the unauthorized field group 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 · moderate confidenceThis is a broken access control vulnerability in the Advanced Custom Fields plugin where the move field group functionality lacks proper authorization checks. An authenticated user can move field groups they don't own or have permission to access, potentially leading to unauthorized configuration changes.
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
Advanced Custom FieldsWordPress extension
< 5.11CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm Advanced Custom Fields plugin is installedLocate the plugin directory in the WordPress installation (typically wp-content/plugins/advanced-custom-fields) and check for the main plugin file, or view the plugin in the WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed PluginsAffected if The plugin directory exists and the plugin is active in WordPress
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Determine installed plugin versionOpen the main plugin PHP file (usually acf.php) and locate the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block, or check the version displayed in the WordPress admin plugin listAffected if The version number is lower than 5.11 (for example, 5.10, 5.9, etc.)
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Verify the move field group feature is accessibleCheck if the user has access to the ACF Field Groups admin interface and if the move functionality is present (typically accessible via field group actions menu)Affected if The plugin version is below 5.11 AND the authenticated user can access the field group admin area where move functionality exists
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Check for unauthorized field group modificationsReview WordPress audit logs or ACF field group history to identify any field group move operations performed by users who should not have had access to specific field groupsAffected if Move actions exist in logs for field groups that the performing user did not own or have permission to modify
You are affected if the Advanced Custom Fields plugin is installed with a version lower than 5.11 and users with limited permissions can access the move field group functionality in the admin interface.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scoped5.11
Upgrade to Advanced Custom Fields version 5.11 or later which contains the authorization fix for the field group move functionality.
Advanced Custom Fields and Advanced Custom Fields Pro version 5.11 or later
- Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
- Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- Locate 'Advanced Custom Fields' (and 'Advanced Custom Fields Pro' if installed)
- If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 5.11 or later
- Alternatively, manually upload and install version 5.11 or later from wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-custom-fields/
- Verify the plugin version is 5.11 or higher after updating
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Advanced Custom Fields
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-20867 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-20867 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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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.
- 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