Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2023-32963

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges 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 a3rev Software WooCommerce Predictive Search allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects WooCommerce Predictive Search: from n/a through 5.8.0.

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

Missing authorization vulnerability in WooCommerce Predictive Search plugin allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels. The plugin fails to properly validate user permissions before allowing access to certain functionality, potentially enabling unauthorized actions.

MitigationImplement proper authorization checks using WordPress capability checks and nonce validation before executing sensitive operations. Review all AJAX endpoints and admin functions for missing permission callbacks.

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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins > WooCommerce Predictive Search and record the version number
    Affected if The version is unpatched or unknown compared to when the authorization fix was released
  2. Identify AJAX endpoint permission callbacks
    Search plugin PHP files for 'add_action' calls containing 'wp_ajax_' and inspect whether each includes a 'permission_callback' parameter or a 'current_user_can()' check before executing
    Affected if Any AJAX endpoint lacks a permission_callback or capability check and is reachable by users without proper authorization
  3. Review admin function access controls
    Search for 'add_action' hooks on 'admin_init' or 'admin_menu' and verify that functions performing sensitive operations include 'current_user_can()' validation
    Affected if Admin functions can be executed without verifying the user has the required capability
  4. Test unauthorized action execution
    Using a low-privilege user account (such as Subscriber), attempt to access suspected vulnerable plugin endpoints or functions that should require administrator privileges
    Affected if A low-privilege user can successfully trigger actions that should be restricted to administrators

The environment is affected if the WooCommerce Predictive Search plugin version has AJAX endpoints or admin functions that execute without proper capability checks, allowing unauthorized users to perform sensitive 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

Implement proper authorization checks using WordPress capability checks and nonce validation before executing sensitive operations. Review all AJAX endpoints and admin functions for missing permission callbacks.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Version 5.8.1 or later (verify via WordPress plugin repository or a3rev official source)

  1. 1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate WooCommerce Predictive Search by a3rev Software
  4. 4. Check if an update is available and update to the latest version
  5. 5. If no update is shown in WordPress, visit the official a3rev website or WordPress plugin repository to download the latest version
  6. 6. Deactivate and delete the old plugin version
  7. 7. Upload and activate the new version

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation6.0 h
  • Implementation10.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
26.0 hours of engineering $4,620
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Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

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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-2023-32963 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