Hitsteps Web AnalyticsWordPress extension · Hitsteps
CVE-2023-45268
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 · uneditedCross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Hitsteps Hitsteps Web Analytics plugin <= 5.86 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 confidenceCross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Hitsteps Web Analytics WordPress plugin versions 5.86 and below. The plugin lacks proper anti-CSRF tokens (nonces) on state-changing operations, allowing authenticated users to be tricked into performing unintended actions via malicious requests.
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
Hitsteps Web AnalyticsWordPress extension
<= 5.86CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm plugin installation and versionNavigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and locate Hitsteps Web Analytics in the installed plugins list. Note the version number displayed next to the plugin name. Alternatively, check the plugin header in its main PHP file (typically /wp-content/plugins/hitsteps-analytics/ or similar path containing 'hitsteps').Affected if The plugin is installed and the version is 5.86 or lower.
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Identify state-changing admin actionsSearch the plugin directory for WordPress action hooks that modify data, such as 'admin_init', 'init', 'wp_ajax_', 'admin_post_', or form submission handlers. Look for functions that create, update, delete, or modify plugin settings, user data, or WordPress content.Affected if The plugin contains admin actions or AJAX endpoints that perform state-changing operations (data creation, modification, or deletion).
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Inspect forms for nonce implementationExamine PHP files containing form tags (<form). Check if each form includes a nonce field via wp_nonce_field() or wp_nonce_url(). Also verify that the form processing code validates the nonce using check_admin_referer() or wp_verify_nonce().Affected if Any form that performs a state-changing operation lacks a nonce field or fails to validate the nonce before processing.
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Inspect AJAX handlers for nonce verificationLocate AJAX action handlers (functions hooked to wp_ajax_ hooks). Verify that each handler calls check_admin_referer() or wp_verify_nonce() at the beginning of the function before processing any data.Affected if Any AJAX handler that performs state-changing operations does not verify a nonce before executing.
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Check admin action hooks for nonce validationReview admin_init or similar hooks that process state-changing requests. Confirm the code calls check_admin_referer() or wp_verify_nonce() before any data modification occurs.Affected if Any admin action handler that modifies data lacks nonce validation.
You are affected if the Hitsteps Web Analytics plugin is installed at version 5.86 or lower and any state-changing operation (forms, AJAX, or admin actions) in the plugin code is missing nonce generation or validation.
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 dataImplement WordPress nonces on all form submissions and AJAX requests that perform state-changing operations. Additionally, verify Origin/Referer headers server-side to validate request authenticity.
Fix this in Hitsteps Web Analytics
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $5,120.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-45268 — 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-2023-45268 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