dbcve.org
ForminatorWordPress extension · Incsub

CVE-2021-36821

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-16
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.14.12 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (XSS or 'Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in WPMU DEV Forminator allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Forminator: from n/a through 1.14.11.

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

Forminator plugin versions through 1.14.11 contain a stored XSS vulnerability where user-supplied input in form fields is not properly sanitized before being rendered in web pages. This allows authenticated attackers to inject malicious JavaScript that executes in the browsers of users who view form submissions or associated data.

MitigationUpdate Forminator to the latest version available from WPMU DEV. If immediate updating is not feasible, disable the plugin until a patch can be applied.

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
ForminatorWordPress extension
Affected:< 1.14.12

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
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/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 checks

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

  1. Locate Forminator plugin installation
    Check the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) for the 'forminator' folder, or view the installed plugins list in WP Admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins
    Affected if The Forminator plugin folder exists in the WordPress installation
  2. Identify installed Forminator version
    Open the main plugin file (forminator.php) and locate the 'Version:' header in the plugin comments, or check the version column in WordPress Admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins
    Affected if The reported version number is less than 1.14.12 (for example: 1.14.11, 1.14.10, 1.14.9, etc.)
  3. Verify if plugin is active
    In WordPress Admin, check the Plugins list and confirm Forminator shows as 'Active', or query the wp_options table for the option_name 'forminator_is_activate' set to '1'
    Affected if Forminator is currently activated on the WordPress site
  4. Confirm presence of created forms
    Navigate to Forminator > Forms in the WordPress admin panel, or query the wp_posts table for post_type 'forminator_forms' with post_status 'publish'
    Affected if One or more forms have been created and published, allowing user submissions
  5. Check for form submissions containing potential malicious scripts
    In Forminator > Submissions, review recent entries for unsanitized HTML/JavaScript in text fields, or inspect the HTML source of submission export files for script tags or event handlers
    Affected if Form submissions contain unescaped HTML tags (like <script>, <img onerror=>, or javascript: URIs) that would execute in a browser

A site is affected if Forminator plugin version is below 1.14.12 AND the plugin is active AND at least one form has been published that accepts user input, allowing stored XSS to be injected and rendered to other users viewing submissions.

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 1.14.12 or later
Fixed in 1.14.12
Interim mitigation

Update Forminator to the latest version available from WPMU DEV. If immediate updating is not feasible, disable the plugin until a patch can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Forminator 1.14.12

  1. 1. Log in to your WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate Forminator plugin in the list
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 1.14.12 or later
  5. 5. Alternatively, download Forminator version 1.14.12 or later from the WordPress plugin repository and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  6. 6. After update, verify the plugin version shows 1.14.12 or higher

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

Fix this in Forminator Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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-2021-36821 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