CVE-2023-40679
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 Jewel Theme Master Addons for Elementor allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Master Addons for Elementor: from n/a through 2.0.5.3.
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 Master Addons for Elementor plugin allows authenticated users to access functionality or perform actions beyond their intended privilege level due to incorrectly configured access control security levels. This is a Broken Access Control (OWASP Top 10) vulnerability where the plugin fails to properly validate user permissions before executing sensitive operations.
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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
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 Master Addons for Elementor is installedCheck your WordPress plugins directory orwp-content/plugins/ for a folder named 'master-addons' or check via WordPress admin Plugins pageAffected if The plugin is present in the installation
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Identify the installed versionCheck the main plugin file (usually wp-content/plugins/master-addons/ma-elementor.php or similar) for the 'Version' header in the plugin comments, or look in the WordPress admin plugin listAffected if The installed version is lower than the patched version (verify against vendor release notes for the security update)
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Check for non-administrator user rolesIn WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and review the roles assigned to each user accountAffected if There are users with roles other than Administrator who have access to the site
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Inspect plugin role/access settingsNavigate to Master Addons settings in WordPress admin (usually under Elementor > Master Addons or Settings) and check access control or permission settings if exposedAffected if Plugin settings or specific features are accessible to Editor, Author, Contributor, or Subscriber roles
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Audit administrative actions by non-adminsReview WordPress activity logs, audit logs, or security plugins for actions performed by non-administrator users on Master Addons functionalityAffected if Non-administrator users have modified plugin settings, created or modified content using plugin features, or accessed administrative functions
You are affected if Master Addons for Elementor is installed AND the installed version lacks the authorization fix AND non-administrator users exist with access to the site.
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 Master Addons for Elementor to the latest version which should contain proper authorization checks. If no update is available, restrict access to the plugin settings and functionality to administrator-level users only until a patch is released.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 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 $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-40679 — 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-2023-40679 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