dbcve.org
Participants DatabaseWordPress extension · Xnau

CVE-2023-31235

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-09
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.5.0 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 Roland Barker, xnau webdesign Participants Database plugin <= 2.4.9 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 · moderate confidence

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Participants Database plugin versions 2.4.9 and earlier allows attackers to trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions by sending malicious requests. The lack of proper CSRF token validation on state-changing operations enables attackers to craft forged requests that the victim's browser will automatically include with their session credentials.

MitigationImplement anti-CSRF tokens (synchronizer token pattern) for all state-changing operations and validate the Origin/Referer headers on POST requests. Alternatively, use SameSite cookie attributes to prevent cross-origin request submission.

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
Participants DatabaseWordPress extension
Affected:< 2.5.0

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. Check the Participants Database plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins > Participants Database and look at the Version number. Alternatively, check the plugin's main PHP file header for the Version constant.
    Affected if The installed version is 2.4.9 or earlier (versions below 2.5.0 are affected)
  2. Inspect state-changing forms for CSRF token fields
    View the HTML source of any frontend or backend form that modifies data (e.g., record submission, settings changes, member updates). Look for input fields with names like 'nonce', 'token', 'csrftoken', or similar, or hidden fields containing security tokens.
    Affected if Forms lack CSRF token/nonce hidden input fields
  3. Verify CSRF token validation in form handler code
    Examine the PHP files that process form submissions (typically in the plugin's main class or form handler files). Search for nonce verification functions like 'wp_verify_nonce', 'verify_nonce', or custom token validation logic before processing POST requests.
    Affected if Form processing code does not validate CSRF tokens before executing state-changing operations
  4. Check cookie SameSite attributes
    Use browser developer tools (Application > Cookies) or a network proxy to inspect cookies set by the Participants Database plugin. Check if the SameSite attribute is set to 'Strict' or 'Lax', or verify cookie headers in HTTP responses.
    Affected if Cookies used for authentication/sessions lack SameSite attributes or have them set to 'None' without Secure flag

You are affected if the Participants Database plugin version is below 2.5.0 AND state-changing forms lack CSRF token validation or cookies lack appropriate SameSite attributes.

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 2.5.0 or later
Fixed in 2.5.0
Interim mitigation

Implement anti-CSRF tokens (synchronizer token pattern) for all state-changing operations and validate the Origin/Referer headers on POST requests. Alternatively, use SameSite cookie attributes to prevent cross-origin request submission.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Participants Database version 2.5.0

  1. Backup your WordPress site before making any changes
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in your WordPress admin dashboard
  3. Locate the Participants Database plugin
  4. Click Update Now to install version 2.5.0 or later
  5. Verify the plugin version after update to confirm 2.5.0+ is installed
  6. Test that plugin functionality works as expected

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

Fix this in Participants Database Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
11.0 hours of engineering $1,980
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,168.

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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-2023-31235 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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