dbcve.org
WpdiscuzWordPress extension · Gvectors

CVE-2023-3869

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-20
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 7.6.3 or later.
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
The wpDiscuz plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing authorization check on the voteOnComment function in versions up to, and including, 7.6.3. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to increase or decrease the rating of a comment.

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 · high confidence

The wpDiscuz WordPress plugin lacks authorization validation in its voteOnComment function, allowing unauthenticated users to arbitrarily increase or decrease comment ratings. This is a broken access control vulnerability where the function fails to verify user identity or permissions before processing vote actions.

MitigationUpdate wpDiscuz to version 7.6.4 or later which implements proper authorization checks on the voteOnComment function to prevent unauthorized voting.

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
WpdiscuzWordPress extension
Affected:<= 7.6.3

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. Confirm wpDiscuz plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins page and look for wpDiscuz in the installed plugins list, or check the /wp-content/plugins/ directory for the wpdiscuz folder
    Affected if wpDiscuz plugin is present on the WordPress site
  2. Identify installed wpDiscuz version
    In WordPress admin > Plugins > wpDiscuz, view the plugin details to see the installed version number, or inspect the main plugin file header in /wp-content/plugins/wpdiscuz/wpDiscuz.php
    Affected if The displayed version is 7.6.3 or any version lower than 7.6.4
  3. Verify AJAX vote endpoint responds to unauthenticated requests
    Send a POST request to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=wpdiscuz_vote and parameters for comment ID and vote value, without including authentication cookies or headers
    Affected if The endpoint returns a successful response and processes the vote without requiring login authentication
  4. Check if comment ratings can be modified without authentication
    Using a browser in private/incognito mode (not logged in), navigate to a post with comments, locate the voting arrows on a comment, click to vote up or down, and observe if the vote count changes
    Affected if Unauthenticated visitors can successfully change comment vote counts without any access denial

A WordPress site is affected if wpDiscuz version 7.6.3 or lower is installed AND the voteOnComment function accepts and processes requests from unauthenticated users.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 7.6.3
Interim mitigation

Update wpDiscuz to version 7.6.4 or later which implements proper authorization checks on the voteOnComment function to prevent unauthorized voting.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

wpDiscuz 7.6.4 or latest available version

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the wpDiscuz plugin
  4. Check if the current version is 7.6.3 or earlier
  5. If vulnerable, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the latest version, or manually update to version 7.6.4 or higher
  6. Verify the update was successful by confirming the new version number

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

Fix this in Wpdiscuz Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-3869 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-3869 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.

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