CVE-2023-46633
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 · uneditedMissing Authorization vulnerability in TCBarrett Glossary allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Glossary: from n/a through 3.1.2.
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 confidenceMissing authorization vulnerability in TCBarrett Glossary plugin allows attackers to bypass access control checks due to incorrectly configured security levels. The plugin fails to properly validate user permissions before granting access to certain functionality or data within the Glossary component.
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
- Low
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- Low
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
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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Identify Glossary plugin installationLocate the TCBarrett Glossary plugin in your WordPress or CMS installation. Check the plugin directory for 'glossary' or 'tcbarrett' related files, and note the installed version number from the plugin header or version file.Affected if The plugin is installed and the version cannot be confirmed as patched or is within an unknown affected range.
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Inspect security level configurationAccess the plugin settings panel in the admin dashboard. Look for configuration options labeled 'security level', 'access control', 'role permissions', or similar terms that control who can access glossary functions.Affected if The security level is set to a value that permits unauthenticated or low-privilege users to access protected functionality.
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Verify user role enforcementReview the plugin's role-based access control (RBAC) settings. Check which user roles (subscriber, contributor, author, editor, administrator) are permitted to create, edit, or delete glossary terms.Affected if Lower-privileged roles such as subscribers or unauthenticated users are granted access to create or modify glossary data when they should not be.
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Test unauthenticated access to glossary endpointsUse a web proxy or curl to send requests to glossary-related URLs (such as term display, creation, or API endpoints) without providing authentication credentials. Observe whether the server returns the requested data or performs the action.Affected if The plugin returns glossary data or allows actions to be performed without requiring valid authentication or authorization validation.
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Review plugin capability checksExamine the plugin source code (if accessible) for functions that handle user permissions. Look for 'current_user_can', 'capability', 'role check', or similar authorization calls before executing sensitive operations.Affected if Critical functions lack proper capability checks or the checks are conditionally bypassed based on security level settings.
A user is affected if the TCBarrett Glossary plugin is installed and its security level or role-based access controls permit unauthorized users to access or modify glossary data without proper authorization 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 dataReview and enforce proper authorization checks across all user-accessible functions in the Glossary plugin, ensuring role-based access control (RBAC) is correctly implemented and enforced for all security levels.
- 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-2023-46633 — 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-2023-46633 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
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