Authors ListWordPress extension · Wpkube
CVE-2023-37981
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 · uneditedUnauth. Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WPKube Authors List plugin <= 2.0.2 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 confidenceAn unauthenticated reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability exists in the WPKube Authors List WordPress plugin versions 2.0.2 and below. The vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious JavaScript through unsanitized user input that gets reflected back to users in the HTTP response, potentially executing in the victim's browser.
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
Authors ListWordPress extension
< 2.0.3CVSS 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
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify WPKube Authors List plugin is installedLog into WordPress admin dashboard, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, and look for 'WPKube Authors List' in the list of active or installed plugins.Affected if The plugin appears in the installed plugins list.
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Check installed plugin versionIn the Plugins page, click on the plugin name to view its details, or hover over the plugin row to see the version number displayed under the plugin name.Affected if The version displayed is 2.0.2 or lower.
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Confirm vulnerability is exploitableSince this is a reflected XSS vulnerability, it requires user-supplied input to be reflected in the HTTP response without sanitization. No additional configuration check is needed the vulnerability exists in the plugin code itself for affected versions.Affected if The plugin version is below 2.0.3.
You are affected if the WPKube Authors List plugin is installed and its version is 2.0.2 or lower.
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 · scoped2.0.3
Upgrade the WPKube Authors List plugin to a version newer than 2.0.2. If no patched version is available, disable the plugin until a fix is released.
2.0.3
- Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
- Navigate to Plugins > All Plugins
- Find the Authors List plugin in the list
- Click 'Update now' if an update is available, or manually upload version 2.0.3
- Verify the plugin version shows 2.0.3 or higher after updating
- Clear any caching plugins if used, then test that the previously vulnerable endpoint is no longer exploitable
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Authors List
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-37981 — 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-2023-37981 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