CVE-2023-26520
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 · uneditedMissing Authorization vulnerability in Max Chirkov Advanced Text Widget allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Advanced Text Widget : from n/a through 2.1.2.
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 confidenceWordPress plugin vulnerability in Advanced Text Widget versions up to 2.1.2 allows unauthorized access due to missing authorization checks on certain functionality, enabling attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Advanced Text Widget plugin is installedLog in to WordPress admin panel and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins. Look for 'Advanced Text Widget' in the list of active or installed plugins.Affected if The plugin appears in the installed plugins list and is activated.
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Check installed plugin versionIn the Plugins list, click on the plugin details link for Advanced Text Widget or inspect the plugin header comment in /wp-content/plugins/advanced-text-widget/advanced-text-widget.php to find the Version field.Affected if The version number is 2.1.2 or lower.
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Inspect plugin access control settingsNavigate to the widget settings page (Appearance > Widgets or the plugin's own settings page). Look for any access control, permission level, or capability settings that control who can modify widget content.Affected if The plugin allows lower-privileged users (such as subscribers or unauthenticated users) to access or modify widget settings without proper authorization.
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Check for unauthorized admin functionality exposureReview WordPress activity logs or server access logs for requests to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php or other endpoints related to the Advanced Text Widget plugin from untrusted user roles.Affected if Requests to plugin AJAX endpoints are being made by users without administrator privileges.
A user is affected if the Advanced Text Widget plugin is active at version 2.1.2 or lower AND the vulnerable access control configuration allows unauthorized users to access widget modification functionality.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate Advanced Text Widget to the latest patched version; if unavailable, disable the plugin until a fix is released and review all access control configurations.
- Consultation2.0 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 $1,696.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-26520 — 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-2023-26520 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