dbcve.org
Nested PagesWordPress extension · Kylephillips

CVE-2021-38342

HIGH · 8.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2021-08-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 3.1.15 or later.
See remediation →
88/100
Remediation priority · High
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
The Nested Pages WordPress plugin <= 3.1.15 was vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery via the `npBulkAction`s and `npBulkEdit` `admin_post` actions, which allowed attackers to trash or permanently purge arbitrary posts as well as changing their status, reassigning their ownership, and editing other metadata.

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

The Nested Pages WordPress plugin versions 3.1.15 and below lacks anti-CSRF tokens (nonces) on the npBulkAction and npBulkEdit admin_post endpoints. This allows authenticated administrators to be tricked into unknowingly executing arbitrary bulk operations on posts including trashing, permanent deletion, status changes, ownership reassignment, and metadata edits through maliciously crafted requests.

MitigationUpdate the Nested Pages plugin to version 3.1.16 or later which adds nonce validation. As an interim measure, ensure administrators are trained to avoid clicking untrusted links, but this does not fully mitigate the vulnerability.

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
Nested PagesWordPress extension
Affected:<= 3.1.15

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
None
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/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. Confirm Nested Pages plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Instored Plugins and look for 'Nested Pages' by Kylephillips, or check the plugin files in /wp-content/plugins/nested-pages/ for a version file
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active in WordPress
  2. Identify the installed version
    Check the plugin version in the WordPress plugin list or inspect the main plugin file header in /wp-content/plugins/nested-pages/nested-pages.php for the Version: X.X.X field
    Affected if The version number is 3.1.15 or lower
  3. Verify the vulnerable endpoints are accessible
    Check if admin_post.php?action=npBulkAction and admin_post.php?action=npBulkEdit endpoints respond in the WordPress installation. These are standard WordPress admin post handlers.
    Affected if The endpoints return a valid response rather than a 404 or error, indicating the plugin is handling these requests
  4. Confirm nonce validation is absent
    Inspect the plugin source code in nested-pages/includes/handlers/bulk-action-handler.php (or similar bulk action files) for missing wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer calls before processing bulk operations
    Affected if The bulk action handlers contain no nonce verification before executing operations like trash, delete, or status changes

A user is affected if the Nested Pages plugin version is 3.1.15 or lower and the plugin is active, as the missing nonce validation on npBulkAction and npBulkEdit endpoints allows CSRF-based bulk operations.

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 3.1.15
Interim mitigation

Update the Nested Pages plugin to version 3.1.16 or later which adds nonce validation. As an interim measure, ensure administrators are trained to avoid clicking untrusted links, but this does not fully mitigate the vulnerability.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Nested Pages 3.1.16 or later

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the Nested Pages plugin
  4. Check the current version is 3.1.15 or earlier
  5. Click Update Now if an update to version 3.1.16 or later is available
  6. Alternatively, navigate to Dashboard > Updates and update all plugins including Nested Pages
  7. Verify the updated version is 3.1.16 or later after updating

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

Fix this in Nested Pages Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
12.0 hours of engineering $2,080
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.

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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-2021-38342 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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