UserproWordPress extension · Userproplugin
CVE-2023-2440
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 · uneditedThe UserPro plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in versions up to, and including, 5.1.1. This is due to missing nonce validation in the 'admin_page', 'userpro_verify_user' and 'verifyUnverifyAllUsers' functions. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to modify the role of verified users to elevate verified user privileges to that of any user such as 'administrator' 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 confidenceThe UserPro WordPress plugin versions up to 5.1.1 contain a Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the 'admin_page', 'userpro_verify_user', and 'verifyUnverifyAllUsers' functions due to missing nonce validation. This allows unauthenticated attackers to forge administrative requests that can elevate any verified user's privileges to administrator level by tricking a site administrator into clicking a malicious link.
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
UserproWordPress extension
<= 5.1.1CVSS 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
- 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check UserPro plugin versionLocate the UserPro plugin file (typically in /wp-content/plugins/userpro/ directory) and inspect the main plugin file header for the Version field, or run: wp plugin list --name=userpro if WP-CLI is availableAffected if The installed version is 5.1.1 or any version up to and including 5.1.1
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Audit administrator-level accountsList all users with administrator role using WP-CLI: wp user list --role=administrator, or query the WordPress database: SELECT user_login, user_email FROM wp_users u JOIN wp_usermeta m ON u.ID = m.user_id WHERE m.meta_key = 'wp_capabilities' AND m.meta_value LIKE '%administrator%'Affected if Unexpected or unrecognized administrator accounts exist that were not created by known site admins
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Review user role changes in audit logsExamine WordPress audit logs, debug.log, or server access logs for entries related to userpro_verify_user, verifyUnverifyAllUsers, or role changes occurring around the time the plugin was activeAffected if Logs show suspicious user verification or privilege escalation events that were not initiated by authorized administrators
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Check for suspicious admin actions triggered via crafted URLsReview server access logs (Apache/nginx) for GET or POST requests to /wp-admin/admin.php with parameters action=userpro_verify_user or action=verifyUnverifyAllUsers that originated from external referrers or lack proper nonce tokensAffected if Requests to the vulnerable functions appear in logs without valid admin session cookies or with missing/expected nonce values
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Verify nonce implementation in plugin codeInspect the UserPro plugin PHP files (particularly admin_page, userpro_verify_user, and verifyUnverifyAllUsers functions) for the presence of wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer calls before any user modification logicAffected if The vulnerable functions lack nonce validation checks, meaning any state-changing request can be forged from an external site
A user is affected if UserPro plugin version 5.1.1 or below is installed AND either unauthorized admin accounts exist OR suspicious role escalation events appear in logs OR the plugin code lacks nonce validation in the identified functions.
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 · scopedUpdate UserPro plugin to the latest version; implement and enforce nonce validation on all state-changing admin actions; audit existing user accounts for unauthorized privilege escalation.
Latest version of UserPro (verify version > 5.1.1)
- 1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard and go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- 2. Locate the UserPro plugin in the list
- 3. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
- 4. After updating, verify the plugin is functioning correctly by testing user management features
- 5. Confirm the updated version is newer than 5.1.1
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Userpro
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-2440 — 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-2023-2440 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