Yoast SeoWordPress extension · Yoast
CVE-2023-28785
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 · uneditedAuth. (contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Yoast Yoast SEO: Local plugin <= 14.9 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 confidenceAuthenticated contributor+ users can inject malicious JavaScript through the Yoast SEO: Local plugin's input fields. The injected script is stored in the database and executes when other users view the affected content, allowing session hijacking, defacement, or credential theft.
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
Yoast SeoWordPress extension
<= 14.9CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Verify Yoast SEO: Local plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and locate Yoast SEO: Local plugin in the list of installed pluginsAffected if The plugin appears in the installed plugins list
-
Check installed plugin versionIn WordPress admin > Plugins, click on the Yoast SEO: Local plugin to view its version number, then compare against the affected range (<= 14.9)Affected if The installed version is 14.9 or lower
-
Identify user accounts with contributor or higher rolesGo to WordPress admin > Users and review the role column for accounts assigned contributor, author, editor, or administrator rolesAffected if There are users with contributor+ roles who have access to the plugin's input fields
-
Inspect plugin-stored data for malicious scriptsQuery the WordPress database tables where Yoast SEO: Local stores its data (typically postmeta or custom plugin tables) for suspicious script tags or JavaScript code patterns in field valuesAffected if Database contains unescaped HTML/script tags in plugin-related fields that could execute on page load
You are affected if Yoast SEO: Local plugin version 14.9 or lower is installed and contributor-level or higher user accounts exist in your WordPress environment.
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 Yoast SEO: Local plugin to a version beyond 14.9, which includes proper input sanitization. Until patched, restrict contributor-level user permissions and monitor for suspicious script injection in plugin fields.
Fix this in Yoast Seo
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 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 $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-28785 — 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-2023-28785 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
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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