dbcve.org
Social CommentsWordPress extension · Heateor

CVE-2023-23977

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-04-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.6.2 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
Auth. (contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Team Heateor WordPress Social Comments Plugin for Vkontakte Comments and Disqus Comments plugin <= 1.6.1 versions.

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

A stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Team Heateor WordPress Social Comments Plugin (versions <=1.6.1) allows authenticated users with contributor-level or higher privileges to inject malicious JavaScript through the Vkontakte or Disqus comment fields, which persists and executes in the browsers of other users viewing the comments.

MitigationUpgrade to version 1.6.2 or later. Alternatively, restrict or disable contributor-level user accounts and disable the affected comment plugins until the patch can be applied.

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
Social CommentsWordPress extension
Affected:< 1.6.2

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Heateor Social Comments plugin is installed
    Go to WordPress admin > Plugins and look for 'Heateor Social Comments' or 'Team Heateor WordPress Social Comments Plugin' in the installed plugins list
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin > Plugins, click on the plugin details to view the version number. Compare against the affected range: versions <=1.6.1
    Affected if Installed version is 1.6.1 or earlier (versions below 1.6.2)
  3. Verify Vkontakte or Disqus comment feature is enabled
    Go to plugin settings (usually under Settings > Social Comments) and check if either Vkontakte or Disqus comment integration is turned on
    Affected if Either Vkontakte or Disqus comment feature is enabled in the plugin configuration
  4. Check for contributor-level or higher user accounts
    In WordPress admin > Users, review the user list to identify any accounts with Contributor, Author, Editor, or Administrator roles
    Affected if There are user accounts with contributor-level or higher privileges on the site

The environment is affected if the Heateor Social Comments plugin versions <=1.6.2 is installed with Vkontakte or Disqus comments enabled, and contributor-level or higher user accounts exist on the site.

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 1.6.2 or later
Fixed in 1.6.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade to version 1.6.2 or later. Alternatively, restrict or disable contributor-level user accounts and disable the affected comment plugins until the patch can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

1.6.2

  1. Backup your WordPress site database and files before making any changes
  2. Update the Social Comments plugin to version 1.6.2 via WordPress admin dashboard (Plugins > Installed Plugins > Social Comments > Update Now)
  3. Alternatively, update via WP-CLI: wp plugin update social-comments
  4. Verify the update was successful by checking the plugin version in Plugins > Installed Plugins
  5. Clear any server-side caches if applicable
  6. Test that the social comments functionality works correctly after the update

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

Fix this in Social Comments Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,800.

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-2023-23977 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