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Category MetaWordPress extension · Randyhoyt

CVE-2023-44998

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-10-12
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.2.8 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in josecoelho, Randy Hoyt, steveclarkcouk, Vitaliy Kukin, Eric Le Bail, Tom Ransom Category Meta plugin plugin <= 1.2.8 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 confidence

A Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability exists in the Category Meta WordPress plugin versions 1.2.8 and below. The vulnerability allows attackers to trick authenticated administrators into performing unintended actions (such as modifying category metadata) by crafting malicious requests that the victim's browser automatically submits due to missing or insufficient CSRF tokens on plugin forms and actions.

MitigationUpdate the Category Meta plugin to the latest version (>1.2.8) which should include proper anti-CSRF token validation, or disable the plugin until a patch is available. Organizations should also consider implementing additional web application firewall (WAF) rules as a defense-in-depth measure.

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
Category MetaWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.2.8

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Locate the Category Meta plugin installation
    Check your WordPress plugins directory at wp-content/plugins/ for a folder named 'category-meta' or similar variant. In WordPress admin, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins and search for 'Category Meta' or 'Randyhoyt Category Meta'.
    Affected if The plugin folder does not exist or the plugin is not listed in WordPress admin.
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    If the plugin is found, open the main plugin file (usually category-meta.php or index.php in the plugin folder) and locate the version comment or header. Alternatively, in WordPress admin go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and check the version column next to Category Meta.
    Affected if The version displayed is 1.2.8 or lower.
  3. Verify the plugin is active on the site
    In WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins, confirm the Category Meta plugin shows as 'Active'. Also check if the plugin functionality is in use by visiting any admin page that manages category metadata.
    Affected if The plugin is activated and category metadata features are accessible to administrators.
  4. Inspect plugin code for CSRF protection (nonce validation)
    Access the plugin source files via file manager or FTP. Examine the main PHP files that handle form submissions and admin actions (typically functions processing $_POST or $_GET requests). Search for 'wp_nonce_field', 'wp_nonce_url', 'check_admin_referer', or 'check_ajax_referer' functions around form handling and action processing code.
    Affected if Form handling files lack nonce validation calls or use them inconsistently, meaning CSRF protection is missing or insufficient.
  5. Check for CSRF-protected admin forms
    In the plugin PHP files, locate files that generate admin forms for category metadata. Look for hidden input fields containing 'nonce' or '_wpnonce' names within form HTML, and verify these nonces are validated when the form is submitted.
    Affected if Admin forms for category metadata do not include nonce fields or the submitted nonce is not validated server-side.

You are affected if the Category Meta plugin is installed at version 1.2.8 or below, is active, and its code lacks proper nonce/CSRF token validation on forms that handle category metadata actions.

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
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 1.2.8
Interim mitigation

Update the Category Meta plugin to the latest version (>1.2.8) which should include proper anti-CSRF token validation, or disable the plugin until a patch is available. Organizations should also consider implementing additional web application firewall (WAF) rules as a defense-in-depth measure.

Fix this in Category Meta Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,440
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,904.

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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-2023-44998 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