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Configurable Tag CloudWordPress extension · Configurable Tag Cloud Project

CVE-2023-28995

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-07-10
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 5.3 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 Keith Solomon Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC) plugin <= 5.2 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 Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability exists in the Keith Solomon Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC) WordPress plugin versions 5.2 and below. This allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions (such as modifying plugin settings) by crafting malicious requests that the victim's browser automatically submits due to lack of proper anti-CSRF token validation.

MitigationUpdate the Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC) plugin to a version newer than 5.2, which should include proper anti-CSRF nonce validation for all state-changing operations.

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
Configurable Tag CloudWordPress extension
Affected:< 5.3

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. Locate the Configurable Tag Cloud plugin installation
    Check if the plugin files exist in your WordPress installation at wp-content/plugins/configurable-tag-cloud/ or wp-content/plugins/configurable-tag-cloud-ctc/
    Affected if The plugin directory is present on the server
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin PHP file (usually configurable-tag-cloud.php or ctc.php) and locate the version string in the plugin header comment at the top of the file
    Affected if The version number shown is 5.2 or lower (less than 5.3)
  3. Verify the WordPress admin access level
    Confirm that administrator-level user accounts exist and can access the plugin settings page under Settings > Configurable Tag Cloud in the WordPress admin dashboard
    Affected if Authenticated administrators can access the plugin configuration interface
  4. Check for CSRF protection in plugin code
    Examine the plugin PHP files that handle form submissions or URL redirects (look for functions handling save/update/settings operations) and search for 'wp_nonce_field', 'wp_nonce_url', 'check_admin_referer', or 'check_ajax_referer' calls
    Affected if No anti-CSRF nonce validation is found in the code handling state-changing operations

If the Configurable Tag Cloud plugin is installed at version 5.2 or below and handles administrator actions without CSRF token validation, your environment is affected by this vulnerability.

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 5.3 or later
Fixed in 5.3
Interim mitigation

Update the Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC) plugin to a version newer than 5.2, which should include proper anti-CSRF nonce validation for all state-changing operations.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC) version 5.3

  1. 1. Create a full backup of your WordPress site, including the database and all files.
  2. 2. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard and go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
  3. 3. Locate the 'Configurable Tag Cloud (CTC)' plugin in the list.
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 5.3. Alternatively, you can manually upload version 5.3 of the plugin from the WordPress plugin repository.
  5. 5. After updating, verify the plugin is running version 5.3 by checking the Plugins page.
  6. 6. Test the plugin functionality to ensure the update did not break any existing features.
  7. 7. Clear any site caches if you use caching plugins or a CDN.

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

Fix this in Configurable Tag Cloud Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,600
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.

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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-2023-28995 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