Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2023-29237

MEDIUM · 6.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
69/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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
Missing Authorization vulnerability in Muhammad Rehman Remove Duplicate Posts allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Remove Duplicate Posts: from n/a through 1.3.5.

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 confidence

This is a Missing Authorization vulnerability in the WordPress plugin 'Remove Duplicate Posts' (versions through 1.3.5). The plugin fails to properly enforce capability checks before performing sensitive operations related to post deletion or management, allowing authenticated users with low privileges (or possibly unauthenticated attackers) to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels and perform actions that should require higher privileges.

MitigationUpdate to the latest version of the plugin which includes proper authorization/capability checks (e.g., current_user_can() checks) before executing post removal functions, and verify all admin actions are restricted to users with appropriate WordPress capabilities.

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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:L

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. Verify the plugin is installed
    Check for the 'Remove Duplicate Posts' plugin in the WordPress plugin directory at /wp-content/plugins/ or via WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins
    Affected if The plugin is present and active in the WordPress installation
  2. Determine the installed version
    Open the main plugin file (remove-duplicate-posts.php or similar) and locate the version header in the plugin comment block, or check the version listed in the WordPress admin plugin page
    Affected if The version displayed is 1.3.5 or any version lower (e.g., 1.3.4, 1.3.0, etc.)
  3. Confirm the vulnerability scope
    The vulnerability exists in versions through 1.3.5, meaning any version at or below 1.3.5 is affected by the missing authorization flaw
    Affected if The installed version is 1.3.5 or lower and the plugin handles post deletion or management functions

A WordPress site is affected if the Remove Duplicate Posts plugin is active and the installed version is 1.3.5 or lower, as these versions lack proper capability checks before performing sensitive post management operations.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update to the latest version of the plugin which includes proper authorization/capability checks (e.g., current_user_can() checks) before executing post removal functions, and verify all admin actions are restricted to users with appropriate WordPress capabilities.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version after 1.3.5 (verify current version at wordpress.org/plugins/remove-duplicate-posts)

  1. 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate the 'Remove Duplicate Posts' plugin
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
  5. 5. Alternatively, download the latest version from the official WordPress plugin repository and upload it manually

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-29237 — 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 sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-29237 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