Advanced Custom FieldsWordPress extension · Advancedcustomfields
CVE-2022-23183
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 · uneditedMissing authorization vulnerability in Advanced Custom Fields versions prior to 5.12.1 and Advanced Custom Fields Pro versions prior to 5.12.1 allows a remote authenticated attacker to view the information on the database without the access permission.
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 · moderate confidenceMissing authorization check in Advanced Custom Fields plugin versions before 5.12.1 allows authenticated users to bypass permission controls and access database information they should not be able to view.
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
Advanced Custom FieldsWordPress extension
< 5.12.1CVSS 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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- None
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/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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Identify ACF plugin versionLog into WordPress admin, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, locate 'Advanced Custom Fields' or 'Advanced Custom Fields Pro', and note the version number displayedAffected if The version shown is earlier than 5.12.1 (for ACF) or earlier than 5.12.1 (for ACF Pro)
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Confirm plugin is activeIn the same Plugins page, verify the ACF plugin shows as 'Active' rather than 'Inactive'Affected if The plugin is active and the version is below 5.12.1
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Check WordPress user rolesNavigate to Users > All Users in WordPress admin to review registered user roles and capabilitiesAffected if Any user role below Administrator exists on the site (Subscriber, Contributor, Author, or Editor) while running a vulnerable ACF version
If Advanced Custom Fields or ACF Pro version 5.12.1 or later is NOT installed, and the site has subscriber-level or higher user accounts, the vulnerability is present.
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.
dbcve · scoped5.12.1
Update to Advanced Custom Fields or Advanced Custom Fields Pro version 5.12.1 or later to apply the authorization fix.
Advanced Custom Fields and Advanced Custom Fields Pro version 5.12.1
- 1. Backup your WordPress database and files before making any changes
- 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in the WordPress admin dashboard
- 3. Locate 'Advanced Custom Fields' (or 'Advanced Custom Fields Pro' if using the Pro version)
- 4. Click 'Update now' if an update is available, or manually upload version 5.12.1
- 5. After updating, verify the plugin version shows 5.12.1 in the plugins list
- 6. Test that custom field functionality works correctly on your site
- 7. Confirm the vulnerability is patched by ensuring only authorized users can access restricted database information
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Advanced Custom Fields
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,464.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2022-23183 — 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-2022-23183 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