dbcve.org
CharitableWordPress extension · Wpcharitable

CVE-2023-4404

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-08-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.7.0.12 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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 Donation Forms by Charitable plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 1.7.0.12 due to insufficient restriction on the 'update_core_user' function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to specify their user role by supplying the 'role' parameter during a registration.

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 Donation Forms by Charitable plugin for WordPress versions up to 1.7.0.12 contains a privilege escalation vulnerability where the update_core_user function lacks proper validation, allowing unauthenticated attackers to supply a role parameter during user registration and gain high-privilege access such as administrator accounts.

MitigationUpdate the Charitable plugin to version 1.7.0.13 or later immediately. Review existing user accounts for unauthorized administrative accounts created since the vulnerability disclosure.

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
CharitableWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.7.0.12

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
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Charitable plugin version
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins and find 'Donation Forms by Charitable' or check the plugin files for the version number in the main PHP file header
    Affected if The installed version is 1.7.0.12 or lower
  2. Verify WordPress user registration is enabled
    Go to WordPress admin > Settings > General > Membership and confirm 'Anyone can register' is checked, then note the New User Default Role setting
    Affected if User registration is enabled and the plugin is installed in a vulnerable version
  3. Review WordPress user accounts for unauthorized administrators
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Users and examine all accounts with Administrator role. Check the 'Registered' date column for accounts created recently or by unfamiliar email addresses
    Affected if There are administrator accounts you did not create or that were registered around the time of vulnerability disclosure
  4. Check user registration logs for suspicious activity
    Review WordPress activity logs, server access logs, or security plugin logs for POST requests to /wp-login/register or /wp-json/wp/v2/users with role parameters
    Affected if Registration attempts include a role parameter (such as role=administrator) that you did not initiate

You are affected if the Charitable plugin version is 1.7.0.12 or lower AND user registration is enabled, regardless of whether you can currently identify unauthorized admin accounts (they may have been deleted by the attacker).

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 1.7.0.12
Interim mitigation

Update the Charitable plugin to version 1.7.0.13 or later immediately. Review existing user accounts for unauthorized administrative accounts created since the vulnerability disclosure.

Recommended fix High confidence

Charitable 1.7.0.13 or later

  1. 1. Backup your WordPress site and database before performing any updates.
  2. 2. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard.
  3. 3. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
  4. 4. Locate the 'Charitable - Donation Forms' plugin.
  5. 5. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version.
  6. 6. Alternatively, download the latest version from the WordPress plugin repository and upload it manually.
  7. 7. After updating, verify that user registration settings are properly secured in Charitable settings and WordPress general settings.

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

Fix this in Charitable Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,390
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,224.

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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-2023-4404 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data