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Shortcodes UiWordPress extension · Bainternet

CVE-2023-47231

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-08
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 1.9.8 or later.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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
Auth. (contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Bainternet ShortCodes UI plugin <= 1.9.8 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

Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Bainternet ShortCodes UI plugin allows authenticated users with contributor-level permissions or higher to inject malicious JavaScript through plugin functionality. The injected script persists in the database and executes when other users view the affected content.

MitigationUpdate Bainternet ShortCodes UI plugin to version 1.9.9 or higher; if no update available, remove or disable the plugin until a patched version is released. Alternatively, implement proper input sanitization and output encoding in the plugin code.

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
Shortcodes UiWordPress extension
Affected:<= 1.9.8

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
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

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. Verify plugin installation and version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate Bainternet Shortcodes UI. Check the version number displayed under the plugin name. Alternatively, check the plugin files in /wp-content/plugins/shortcodes-ui/ for a version header in the main PHP file.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and its version is 1.9.8 or lower.
  2. Confirm plugin is active
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and verify that Bainternet Shortcodes UI shows as 'Active'.
    Affected if The plugin is both installed and active.
  3. Identify user roles with access
    Go to Users > All Users in WordPress admin and review the role assigned to each user. Look for users with Contributor, Author, Editor, or Administrator roles.
    Affected if Any user with Contributor-level or higher permissions exists in the system.
  4. Inspect database for suspicious shortcode content
    Query the WordPress posts table (usually wp_posts) for shortcode entries. Look for entries containing the plugin shortcode (commonly [BASHORTCODE] or similar Bainternet shortcodes) that contain unusual HTML, script tags, or JavaScript event handlers in the post_content field. Use SQL: SELECT ID, post_title, post_content FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[BA%' OR post_content LIKE '%shortcode%';
    Affected if Database contains shortcode entries with unencoded HTML, script tags, or javascript: URLs in attributes.
  5. Review recent posts for injected content
    Examine recent posts, pages, or custom post types where the shortcode functionality may have been used. Check post_content for any suspicious script tags, event handlers (onerror, onload, onclick), or encoded payloads.
    Affected if Any post content contains JavaScript injection attempts within shortcode usage.

A user is affected if the Bainternet Shortcodes UI plugin version 1.9.8 or lower is installed and active, and contributor-level users exist who could have injected malicious scripts into post content via shortcodes.

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 1.9.8
Interim mitigation

Update Bainternet ShortCodes UI plugin to version 1.9.9 or higher; if no update available, remove or disable the plugin until a patched version is released. Alternatively, implement proper input sanitization and output encoding in the plugin code.

Fix this in Shortcodes Ui Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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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-2023-47231 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