SpamreferrerblockWordPress extension · Spamreferrerblock Project
CVE-2023-34371
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 · uneditedCross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Didier Sampaolo SpamReferrerBlock plugin <= 2.22 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 confidenceCross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the SpamReferrerBlock WordPress plugin versions 2.22 and below allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions such as modifying plugin settings or blocking configurations via crafted malicious requests.
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
SpamreferrerblockWordPress extension
<= 2.22CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Identify SpamReferrerBlock plugin versionIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate SpamReferrerBlock. The version number is displayed below the plugin name. Alternatively, check the plugin's main PHP file header or the readme.txt file in the plugin directory.Affected if The installed version is 2.22 or lower, as versions up to and including 2.22 are affected by this CSRF vulnerability.
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Confirm plugin is activeNavigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in WordPress admin. Verify whether SpamReferrerBlock shows as 'Active' under the plugin status.Affected if The plugin is active; an inactive plugin would not be exploitable via CSRF against the WordPress admin panel.
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Verify admin user sessions existCheck Users > All Users in WordPress admin to confirm at least one user with Administrator role exists. CSRF attacks require a logged-in administrator to unknowingly submit malicious requests.Affected if An active administrator session exists or could be established, as the attack vector relies on tricking authenticated administrators.
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Inspect plugin settings for unexpected changesNavigate to the SpamReferrerBlock settings page (typically under Settings > SpamReferrerBlock) and review current configuration. Compare against any known good baseline or documentation.Affected if Settings appear modified unexpectedly or contain unfamiliar block configurations, which may indicate successful CSRF exploitation.
You are affected if SpamReferrerBlock version 2.22 or lower is installed and active on your WordPress site, allowing authenticated administrators to be targeted by CSRF attacks.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate the SpamReferrerBlock plugin to a version newer than 2.22. If no update is available, disable the plugin. Additionally, implement anti-CSRF tokens in all state-changing forms and AJAX endpoints within the plugin.
Fix this in Spamreferrerblock
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing4.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,328.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-34371 — 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-2023-34371 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