User Submitted PostsWordPress extension · Plugin Planet
CVE-2023-45603
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 · uneditedUnrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type vulnerability in Jeff Starr User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End.This issue affects User Submitted Posts – Enable Users to Submit Posts from the Front End: from n/a through 20230902.
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 confidenceThe User Submitted Posts WordPress plugin contains an unrestricted file upload vulnerability allowing attackers to upload dangerous file types (e.g., PHP files, executables) without proper validation. This critical flaw (CVSS 9.8) can lead to remote code execution and complete site compromise.
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
User Submitted PostsWordPress extension
<= 20230902CVSS 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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify User Submitted Posts plugin is installedIn WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'User Submitted Posts' by Plugin Planet. Check if it is active.Affected if The plugin is installed and active with version 20230902 or lower.
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Determine the installed plugin versionIn the plugins list, click on the plugin details link or view the readme.txt file in the plugin directory /wp-content/plugins/user-submitted-posts/ to find the version number.Affected if The installed version is 20230902 or any version prior to it.
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Check if file upload feature is enabledNavigate to the plugin settings page (User Submitted Posts settings) and look for an option related to file uploads or 'allow file uploads'. Check if it is enabled.Affected if The file upload option is turned on in the plugin settings.
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Inspect uploads directory for suspicious file typesCheck the /wp-content/uploads/ directory (and subdirectories) for files with extensions such as .php, .phtml, .exe, .sh, .js, or other executable/script extensions that were uploaded recently.Affected if Executable or script files (.php, .phtml, etc.) exist in the uploads directory, especially if recently uploaded.
The environment is affected if the User Submitted Posts plugin version 20230902 or lower is installed, active, and the file upload feature is enabled, or if suspicious script files are found in the uploads directory.
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 the plugin to a version beyond 20230902 which implements proper file type allowlisting, server-side validation, and stores uploads outside the web root or with executable permissions removed.
Fix this in User Submitted Posts
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation4.0 h
- Implementation8.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA4.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $6,176.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-45603 — 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-2023-45603 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