Missing AuthorizationWeakness · CWE-862

CVE-2023-41690

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-12-13
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
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
Missing Authorization vulnerability in Wiser Notify WiserNotify Social Proof allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects WiserNotify Social Proof: from n/a through 2.5.

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 confidence

Missing authorization in WiserNotify Social Proof plugin allows attackers to exploit incorrectly configured access control security levels. The vulnerability stems from insufficient access control checks that fail to properly validate user permissions before allowing access to certain functionality, potentially enabling unauthorized actions.

MitigationImplement proper authorization checks across all sensitive endpoints and functions, enforce role-based access control (RBAC), and validate user permissions before executing privileged 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
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. Verify WiserNotify Social Proof plugin is installed
    Check your WordPress installation's plugin directory for 'wisernotify' or 'WiserNotify Social Proof' in wp-content/plugins/ or via WordPress admin plugins list
    Affected if The plugin is present in the WordPress installation
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    View the plugin's main PHP file header (usually wp-content/plugins/wiser-notify/main.php or similar) to read the Version comment, or check via WordPress admin plugin details
    Affected if The installed version falls within the affected version range (if known)
  3. Inspect plugin endpoints for authorization checks
    Examine the plugin's PHP files for sensitive AJAX actions (wp_ajax_*) and admin pages. Look for missing capability checks like current_user_can() or role verification before executing privileged operations
    Affected if Sensitive endpoints exist without proper current_user_can() or permission validation calls
  4. Check for unprotected REST API routes
    If the plugin registers REST API routes, review the callback functions for missing permission_callback parameters or authorization logic
    Affected if REST API routes are accessible without authentication or authorization verification
  5. Review admin menu registration for privilege escalation paths
    Examine how admin menu items and submenus are registered - check if low-privilege users can access admin pages that should be restricted to administrators
    Affected if Admin pages are accessible to users lacking proper roles (e.g., editors, authors can access admin-only functions)

The environment is affected if the WiserNotify Social Proof plugin is installed, the installed version matches the affected range, and sensitive endpoints or admin functions lack authorization checks such as current_user_can() or permission_callback validation.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement proper authorization checks across all sensitive endpoints and functions, enforce role-based access control (RBAC), and validate user permissions before executing privileged operations.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation4.0 h
  • Implementation8.0 h
  • Testing6.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
22.0 hours of engineering $3,860
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Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-41690 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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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
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