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Database Collation FixWordPress extension · Database Collation Fix Project

CVE-2023-23997

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-11
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 1.2.8 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
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Dave Jesch Database Collation Fix plugin <= 1.2.7 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 · moderate confidence

The Dave Jesch Database Collation Fix WordPress plugin versions 1.2.7 and below contains a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability. Attackers can exploit this by tricking authenticated administrators into clicking malicious links or visiting crafted pages, causing the plugin to perform unintended database collation changes without proper consent.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to the latest version, or implement proper CSRF tokens/nonces on all state-changing operations within the plugin and verify them on submission.

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
Database Collation FixWordPress extension
Affected:< 1.2.8

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 Database Collation Fix plugin installation
    Access your WordPress site via FTP or file manager and navigate to /wp-content/plugins/ and check if a folder named 'database-collation-fix' or similar exists
    Affected if The plugin folder is present in the plugins directory
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin PHP file (usually named database-collation-fix.php or similar in the plugin folder) and locate the version defined in the plugin header comment (look for 'Version: x.x.x')
    Affected if The version number found is 1.2.7 or lower (anything below 1.2.8)
  3. Verify the plugin is active
    Log into the WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, and check whether Database Collation Fix is listed as active
    Affected if The plugin shows as active in the WordPress admin plugin list
  4. Check for CSRF protection in plugin code (optional advanced check)
    If you have access to the plugin source code, examine the PHP files that handle form submissions or URL actions (typically files with 'admin', 'settings', or 'action' in the filename) and look for calls to wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer
    Affected if The code lacks nonce verification before performing database collation changes (no wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer found)

Your environment is affected if the Database Collation Fix plugin is installed, active, and the installed version is 1.2.7 or below (any version prior to 1.2.8).

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 1.2.8 or later
Fixed in 1.2.8
Interim mitigation

Update the plugin to the latest version, or implement proper CSRF tokens/nonces on all state-changing operations within the plugin and verify them on submission.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

version 1.2.8

  1. Update the Database Collation Fix plugin to version 1.2.8 or higher through the WordPress plugin administration panel, or replace the plugin files with the updated version from the WordPress plugin repository

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

Fix this in Database Collation Fix Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,930
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,088.

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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-2023-23997 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