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Shortcodes UltimateWordPress extension · Getshortcodes

CVE-2023-25040

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-03-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.12.7 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 Vova Anokhin WordPress Shortcodes Plugin — Shortcodes Ultimate plugin <= 5.12.6 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 Shortcodes Ultimate WordPress plugin (versions <= 5.12.6) allows authenticated users with contributor-level permissions or higher to inject malicious JavaScript into shortcode content. This payload is persisted on the server and executes when other users view affected pages.

MitigationUpdate the Shortcodes Ultimate plugin to a version newer than 5.12.6, or disable the plugin if no update is available.

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
Shortcodes UltimateWordPress extension
Affected:< 5.12.7

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. Identify installed plugin version
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins, locate 'Shortcodes Ultimate' (or 'Getshortcodes Shortcodes Ultimate'), and note the version number displayed
    Affected if The version listed is 5.12.6 or lower, meaning it is vulnerable
  2. Confirm plugin is active
    In the Plugins list, verify the Shortcodes Ultimate plugin has the 'Active' status indicator under the plugin name
    Affected if The plugin is active and the version is below 5.12.7
  3. Review user roles with contributor or higher access
    Go to WordPress admin > Users > All Users, and review the role column for any users assigned 'Contributor', 'Author', 'Editor', or Administrator roles
    Affected if There are users with contributor-level or higher permissions who could potentially inject malicious shortcode content
  4. Inspect shortcode content in posts and pages
    Search the WordPress database or review individual posts/pages for any shortcodes starting with [su_] or [shortcodesultimate_], and inspect their content attributes for suspicious JavaScript patterns such as <script>, javascript:, onerror=, onload=, or alert(
    Affected if Any shortcode content contains executable JavaScript or HTML that was not intentionally added by an administrator

You are affected if the Shortcodes Ultimate plugin is installed with a version 5.12.6 or lower and is currently active 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 5.12.7 or later
Fixed in 5.12.7
Interim mitigation

Update the Shortcodes Ultimate plugin to a version newer than 5.12.6, or disable the plugin if no update is available.

Recommended fix High confidence

5.12.7

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate Shortcodes Ultimate in the plugin list
  4. Update the plugin to version 5.12.7 or later (or upload/install version 5.12.7+ manually if automatic update is not available)
  5. Verify the installed version shows 5.12.7 or higher after updating
  6. Test that the stored XSS vulnerability is no longer exploitable

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

Fix this in Shortcodes Ultimate Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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-2023-25040 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