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Meks Audio PlayerWordPress extension · Mekshq

CVE-2023-25989

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-03
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.1.3 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 Meks Video Importer, Meks Time Ago, Meks ThemeForest Smart Widget, Meks Smart Author Widget, Meks Audio Player, Meks Easy Maps, Meks Easy Photo Feed Widget, Meks Simple Flickr Widget, Meks Easy Ads Widget, Meks Smart Social Widget plugins leading to dismiss or the popup.

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

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in multiple Meks WordPress plugins allows remote attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unwanted actions (dismissing popups/notices) by forging requests. The lack of proper nonce verification on action endpoints enables the attack.

MitigationImplement WordPress nonces (wp_create_nonce/wp_verify_nonce) on all form submissions and AJAX requests, and validate the nonce on the server side before processing any state-changing actions.

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
Meks Audio PlayerWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.2
Meks Easy Ads WidgetWordPress extension
Affected:<= 2.0.7
Meks Easy MapsWordPress extension
Affected:<= 2.1.3
Meks Easy Photo Feed WidgetWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.2.7
Meks Simple Flickr WidgetWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.2
Meks Smart Author WidgetWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.1.3
Meks Smart Social WidgetWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.6
Meks Themeforest Smart WidgetWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.4

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. Identify installed Meks plugins
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for any of these: Meks Audio Player, Meks Easy Ads Widget, Meks Easy Maps, Meks Easy Photo Feed Widget, Meks Simple Flickr Widget, Meks Smart Author Widget, Meks Smart Social Widget, Meks Themeforest Smart Widget. Alternatively, check the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for folders starting with 'meks'.
    Affected if Any of the eight listed Meks plugins are installed on the site
  2. Verify plugin versions against affected ranges
    In WordPress admin Plugins list, check the version column for each installed Meks plugin. Compare against: Meks Audio Player <= 1.2, Meks Easy Ads Widget <= 2.0.7, Meks Easy Maps <= 2.1.3, Meks Easy Photo Feed Widget <= 1.2.7, Meks Simple Flickr Widget <= 1.2, Meks Smart Author Widget <= 1.1.3, Meks Smart Social Widget <= 1.6, Meks Themeforest Smart Widget <= 1.4.
    Affected if Any installed Meks plugin version is at or below the listed affected version
  3. Inspect AJAX action handlers for nonce verification
    Examine the main plugin PHP file (usually in wp-content/plugins/[meks-plugin-folder]/) for AJAX hooks (add_action calls with wp_ajax_). Search for the dismissal actions (often named like dismiss, dismiss_notice, dismiss_popup, hide_notice). Look for whether wp_verify_nonce, check_admin_referer, or wp_create_nonce is called before processing the request.
    Affected if Dismissal or notice-related AJAX actions exist without nonce verification logic in the plugin code
  4. Check form submissions for nonce fields
    If the plugin outputs frontend/admin forms for dismissing notices or popups, view the page source or inspect the HTML form. Look for input fields with type='hidden' containing a nonce value (name often includes 'nonce' or '_wpnonce'). Also check if the form action points to admin-ajax.php without a nonce parameter in the URL or body.
    Affected if Forms handling admin actions lack nonce token fields or do not validate them server-side

A site is affected if any of the eight Meks plugins are installed at a version at or below the affected ranges and the plugin handles admin actions (dismissing notices/popups) without verifying WordPress nonces.

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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.1.3
Interim mitigation

Implement WordPress nonces (wp_create_nonce/wp_verify_nonce) on all form submissions and AJAX requests, and validate the nonce on the server side before processing any state-changing actions.

Fix this in Meks Audio Player Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,220
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,952.

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-2023-25989 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