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Contact Form 7 Database AddonWordPress extension · Ciphercoin

CVE-2021-36885

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-12-22
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.2.6.1 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
Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability discovered in Contact Form 7 Database Addon – CFDB7 WordPress plugin (versions <= 1.2.6.1).

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

Unauthenticated stored XSS in the CFDB7 WordPress plugin allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript through contact form submissions. Since the plugin stores form data without proper input sanitization, the XSS payload executes when administrators view the submitted data in the WordPress admin panel.

MitigationUpdate the CFDB7 plugin to a version beyond 1.2.6.1 which includes proper input sanitization, or remove the plugin if not needed.

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
Contact Form 7 Database AddonWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.2.6.1

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. Verify CFDB7 plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'CFDB7' or 'Contact Form 7 Database Addon' or 'Ciphercoin Contact Form 7 Database Addon' in the plugin list
    Affected if the plugin appears in the installed plugins list
  2. Check installed version number
    Click on the plugin name in the WordPress plugins list to view details, or check the plugin header in wp-content/plugins/contact-form-7-database-addon/cfdb7.php for the Version field
    Affected if the version is 1.2.6.1 or lower
  3. Confirm Contact Form 7 integration is active
    Verify that both the CFDB7 plugin and Contact Form 7 are installed and active; check if any contact forms are published
    Affected if Contact Form 7 is active and forms exist on the site
  4. Check if form submissions are being stored
    In WordPress admin, look for 'CFDB7' or 'Contact Form DB' menu item in the sidebar; check if any form submissions appear in the database tables (usually wp_cfdb7_plugin)
    Affected if form submissions are being captured and stored by the plugin

You are affected if the CFDB7 plugin is installed with version 1.2.6.1 or lower and contact form submissions are being stored in the database, creating a path for stored XSS when admins view that data.

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 a release after 1.2.6.1
Interim mitigation

Update the CFDB7 plugin to a version beyond 1.2.6.1 which includes proper input sanitization, or remove the plugin if not needed.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.2.7

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the 'Contact Form 7 Database Addon' (CFDB7) plugin
  4. Check the current version number to confirm it is 1.2.6.1 or below
  5. Click 'Update Now' on the plugin card to update to the latest version, or manually download version 1.2.7 from wordpress.org if automatic update is unavailable
  6. After updating, verify the plugin version shows 1.2.7 or later
  7. Test form submissions to ensure the plugin still functions correctly

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

Fix this in Contact Form 7 Database Addon Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $890
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,424.

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-2021-36885 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