CVE-2023-33996
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 · uneditedMissing Authorization vulnerability in СleanTalk - Anti-Spam Protection Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk: from n/a through 6.10.
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 confidenceMissing Authorization vulnerability in CleanTalk's WordPress anti-spam plugin allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels. The plugin fails to properly verify user authorization before performing certain actions, potentially allowing unauthenticated or lower-privileged users to access administrative functions.
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
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify CleanTalk anti-spam plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins section, or inspect wp-content/plugins/ directory for cleantalk-spam-protect folderAffected if CleanTalk anti-spam plugin is present in the WordPress installation
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Determine installed plugin versionIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins > CleanTalk Anti-Spam and read the version number from the plugin details, or check version.php in the plugin folderAffected if Version number cannot be determined or is unknown
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Check for unauthenticated AJAX endpointsInspect plugin PHP files in wp-content/plugins/cleantalk-spam-protect/ for AJAX handlers (wp_ajax_* and wp_ajax_nopriv_* actions) that lack current_user_can() capability checksAffected if AJAX endpoints exist that process requests without verifying user capabilities
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Identify sensitive function calls missing authorizationSearch plugin PHP files for sensitive operations (settings changes, data deletions, user lookups) that execute without preceding current_user_can() or similar authorization checksAffected if Sensitive functions execute without capability verification
The environment is affected if the CleanTalk anti-spam plugin is installed and running a version that contains AJAX endpoints or functions lacking proper capability checks (current_user_can() or equivalent) for authorization.
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.
dbcve · scopedImplement proper authorization checks on all sensitive endpoints and functions within the plugin, ensuring that user permissions are validated before allowing access to protected resources.
Latest available version (6.11 or later)
- Update the CleanTalk - Anti-Spam Protection Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall plugin to the latest available version from the WordPress plugin repository
- After updating, verify that the plugin is functioning correctly by checking the dashboard and spam protection logs
- Ensure that user roles and permissions are properly configured according to the plugin's documentation
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-33996 — 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-2023-33996 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
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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