CVE-2023-37973
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 David Pokorny Replace Word plugin <= 2.1 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 Replace Word plugin for WordPress. The flaw allows remote attackers to trick authenticated administrators into unknowingly executing unintended actions via crafted requests, as the plugin lacks proper CSRF token validation on sensitive operations.
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<= 2.1CVSS 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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Verify Replace Word plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Replace Word' in the listAffected if Replace Word plugin appears in the installed plugins list
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Check the installed version of Replace WordIn the Plugins list, find Replace Word and view the version number under the plugin name, or check the plugin's main PHP file header for 'Version:' valueAffected if Version is 2.1 or lower
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Confirm the plugin is activeIn the Plugins list, verify that Replace Word shows as 'Active' under its statusAffected if Plugin status is Active (vulnerability requires authenticated admin session)
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Identify sensitive Replace Word operationsAccess the plugin settings page (typically under Settings > Replace Word) and note if there are forms for bulk text replacement, save operations, or import/export features without visible CSRF token fieldsAffected if Plugin has admin-facing forms or actions without visible anti-CSRF token inputs (token may be hidden in HTML source)
User is affected if the Replace Word plugin version 2.1 or lower is installed and active on their WordPress site, exposing admin actions to 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 Replace Word plugin to a version newer than 2.1, which should include proper CSRF token validation. Until patched, monitor admin actions and consider disabling the plugin if not essential.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-37973 — 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-2023-37973 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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- 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