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Radio Buttons For TaxonomiesWordPress extension · Radio Buttons For Taxonomies Project

CVE-2020-36740

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-01
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.0.5 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Radio Buttons for Taxonomies plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 2.0.5. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the save_single_term() function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to save terms via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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 Radio Buttons for Taxonomies WordPress plugin versions up to 2.0.5 lack proper nonce validation in the save_single_term() function, allowing unauthenticated attackers to forge requests that trick administrators into creating or modifying taxonomy terms.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 2.0.6 or later which implements proper nonce validation. As a precautionary measure, educate administrators about not clicking untrusted links.

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
Radio Buttons For TaxonomiesWordPress extension
Affected:<= 2.0.5

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/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. Locate the plugin installation directory
    Check the WordPress plugins directory at /wp-content/plugins/ for a folder named 'radio-buttons-for-taxonomies' or similar variant
    Affected if The plugin folder exists in the plugins directory
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin file (usually index.php or a file named radio-buttons-for-taxonomies.php) and locate the 'Version' header comment in the plugin metadata
    Affected if The version number found is 2.0.5 or lower (any version <= 2.0.5)
  3. Verify if the plugin is currently active
    In the WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and check if Radio Buttons for Taxonomies is activated, or query the wp_options table for the active_plugins option
    Affected if The plugin appears in the active plugins list or is enabled in the WordPress options
  4. Confirm the vulnerable function exists
    Access the WordPress site via FTP or file manager and examine the plugin files for the save_single_term() function in the main plugin file or related PHP files
    Affected if The save_single_term() function is present in the plugin code without proper nonce validation logic (look for missing wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer calls)
  5. Check for recent plugin updates
    In the WordPress admin dashboard under Plugins, check if an update to version 2.0.6 or later is available for this plugin
    Affected if An update to version 2.0.6 or later is available, indicating the installed version was vulnerable

The environment is affected if the Radio Buttons for Taxonomies plugin is installed, active, and running version 2.0.5 or lower (the vulnerable function must be accessible in the active plugin code).

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.0.5
Interim mitigation

Update the plugin to version 2.0.6 or later which implements proper nonce validation. As a precautionary measure, educate administrators about not clicking untrusted links.

Fix this in Radio Buttons For Taxonomies Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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-2020-36740 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