dbcve.org
Survey MakerWordPress extension · Ays Pro

CVE-2023-22697

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-13
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 3.2.1 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Missing Authorization vulnerability in Survey Maker team Survey Maker allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Survey Maker: from n/a through 3.2.0.

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 confidence

Survey Maker WordPress plugin versions up to 3.2.0 contain a Missing Authorization vulnerability allowing attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels. The lack of proper capability checks or role-based access validation enables unauthenticated or unauthorized users to perform actions they should not be permitted to access, potentially leading to data exposure or configuration changes.

MitigationImplement proper authorization checks (capability checks, nonce verification, and role-based access control validation) throughout the plugin. Update to the latest patched version when available and audit all admin-level functions for missing authorization controls.

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
Survey MakerWordPress extension
Affected:< 3.2.1

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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. Verify Survey Maker plugin is installed
    Check your WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) for the 'ays-survey-maker' or 'survey-maker' folder, or view installed plugins in WordPress admin under Plugins
    Affected if The plugin folder exists in the WordPress installation
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and find Survey Maker, or open the main plugin file (e.g., ays-survey-maker.php) and look for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block
    Affected if The version number displayed is below 3.2.1 (e.g., 3.2.0 or earlier)
  3. Identify exposed admin actions
    Review plugin PHP files for functions that perform administrative tasks (creating, editing, deleting surveys, exporting data, modifying settings) and check if they include current_user_can() capability checks or nonce verification before executing
    Affected if Admin-level functions lack capability checks (e.g., current_user_can('manage_options')) or nonce validation
  4. Test unauthenticated access to admin functions
    Attempt to access plugin admin pages or actions directly via URL without logging in, or use a tool like Burp Suite to send requests to suspected admin endpoints without authentication cookies
    Affected if Requests to admin functionality complete successfully without proper authentication or authorization headers

Your environment is affected if the Survey Maker plugin versions below 3.2.1 are installed AND admin functions lack capability checks, allowing unauthenticated or unauthorized users to access sensitive 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 3.2.1 or later
Fixed in 3.2.1
Interim mitigation

Implement proper authorization checks (capability checks, nonce verification, and role-based access control validation) throughout the plugin. Update to the latest patched version when available and audit all admin-level functions for missing authorization controls.

Recommended fix High confidence

3.2.1

  1. Upgrade Survey Maker to version 3.2.1 or later to resolve the missing authorization vulnerability

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

Fix this in Survey Maker Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.

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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-2023-22697 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