CVE-2023-46821
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 · uneditedImproper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in Milan Petrovic GD Security Headers allows auth. (admin+) SQL Injection.This issue affects GD Security Headers: from n/a through 1.7.
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 confidenceSQL Injection vulnerability in the GD Security Headers WordPress plugin by Milan Petrovic allows authenticated administrators or higher to inject malicious SQL commands through unsanitized input parameters. The vulnerability exists in versions through 1.7 and requires admin-level privileges to exploit.
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<= 1.7CVSS 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
- High
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/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 GD Security Headers plugin is installedCheck WordPress plugins directory or admin panel for 'GD Security Headers' by Dev4pressAffected if Plugin is installed and active
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Identify installed plugin versionLook in WordPress plugin admin panel or inspect plugin header in wp-content/plugins/gd-security-headers/ directory for the Version fieldAffected if Version is 1.7 or lower (any version 'through 1.7')
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Confirm admin-level user accounts existCheck WordPress users panel for any user with Administrator roleAffected if At least one user with Administrator role exists (required for exploitation)
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Review plugin database query executionInspect plugin PHP files in gd-security-headers/ for direct SQL queries using $wpdb->prepare or unsanitized input in database operationsAffected if Unsanitized SQL parameters or string concatenation found in database queries (vulnerable code pattern)
User is affected if GD Security Headers plugin version 1.7 or lower is installed, an administrator-level account exists, and the plugin contains unsanitized SQL query paths accessible to admins.
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 GD Security Headers to the latest version which should contain parameterized queries to neutralize SQL injection vectors. If no update is available, audit and sanitize all database query paths in the plugin, replacing string concatenation with prepared statements.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,560.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-46821 — 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-2023-46821 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