LinkedinWordPress extension · Bestwebsoft
CVE-2017-18516
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 · uneditedThe bws-linkedin plugin before 1.0.5 for WordPress has multiple XSS issues.
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 confidenceThe bws-linkedin WordPress plugin before version 1.0.5 contains multiple Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerabilities. These are client-side injection flaws that allow attackers to embed malicious scripts into pages served by the plugin, potentially stealing session data or performing actions on behalf of authenticated users.
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
LinkedinWordPress extension
< 1.0.5CVSS 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:3.0/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Locate the bws-linkedin plugin installationCheck your WordPress installation's plugin directory (wp-content/plugins/) for a folder named 'bws-linkedin' or similar Bestwebsoft Linkedin plugin folderAffected if The plugin folder exists in the plugins directory
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Identify the installed plugin versionOpen the main plugin PHP file (typically bws-linkedin.php) or the readme.txt file in the plugin folder and locate the version string in the plugin header commentAffected if The version number found is lower than 1.0.5 (for example, 1.0.4, 1.0.3, etc.)
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Verify if the plugin is activeLog into the WordPress admin dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, or query the WordPress database options table for the active_plugins option to check if bws-linkedin is enabledAffected if The plugin shows as Active or is present in the active_plugins database option
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Confirm plugin authorshipReview the plugin header in the main PHP file to verify the plugin name matches 'Bestwebsoft Linkedin' or 'bws-linkedin' from the vendor BestwebsoftAffected if The plugin is confirmed as the Bestwebsoft Linkedin plugin and the version is below 1.0.5
A user is affected if the Bestwebsoft Linkedin plugin is installed, active on the site, and the installed version is lower than 1.0.5, making them vulnerable to the documented XSS flaws.
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.
From vendor data1.0.5
Update the bws-linkedin plugin to version 1.0.5 or later to apply the vendor security patch. If immediate update is not possible, consider disabling the plugin until the patch can be applied.
Fix this in Linkedin
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-2017-18516 — 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-2017-18516 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