dbcve.org
Restrict CategoriesWordPress extension · Vfbpro

CVE-2023-47518

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.6.4 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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
Unauth. Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Matthew Muro Restrict Categories plugin <= 2.6.4 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

Unauthenticated reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Restrict Categories WordPress plugin by Matthew Muro affecting versions 2.6.4 and below. The vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious scripts through unsanitized user input that gets reflected back in the web response.

MitigationUpdate the Restrict Categories plugin to a version newer than 2.6.4. If no patched version is available, disable the plugin and seek an alternative solution.

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
Restrict CategoriesWordPress extension
Affected:<= 2.6.4

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

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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 Restrict Categories plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins > Installed Plugins. Look for 'Restrict Categories' or 'Vfbpro Restrict Categories' in the list of installed plugins.
    Affected if The plugin named 'Restrict Categories' or 'Vfbpro Restrict Categories' appears in the installed plugins list.
  2. Check installed plugin version
    In the Plugins list, locate the plugin entry. The version number is displayed beneath the plugin name. Alternatively, inspect the main plugin file at /wp-content/plugins/restrict-categories/ (or similar path) and look for the 'Version' header in the plugin comment block.
    Affected if The displayed version number is 2.6.4 or lower.
  3. Confirm plugin is active
    In WordPress admin > Plugins, verify that the plugin shows as 'Active' (not just 'Installed' or 'Inactive').
    Affected if The plugin status shows as 'Active'.
  4. Test for reflected parameter vulnerability
    Identify any publicly accessible page that loads the plugin functionality. Common XSS test: append a test parameter such as ?rc_test=<script>alert(1)</script> to a URL on the site. If the unsanitized script tag appears in the response source, the reflected XSS is present.
    Affected if The test payload appears unescaped in the HTML response.

You are affected if the Restrict Categories plugin is installed, active, and running version 2.6.4 or lower, with the vulnerable reflected input accessible on the frontend.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.6.4
Interim mitigation

Update the Restrict Categories plugin to a version newer than 2.6.4. If no patched version is available, disable the plugin and seek an alternative solution.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Update to plugin version 2.6.5 or latest available version

  1. 1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate the 'Restrict Categories' plugin
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to the latest version
  5. 5. After updating, verify the plugin is running version 2.6.5 or higher
  6. 6. Test the plugin functionality to ensure the update did not break existing features

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Restrict Categories Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing1.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
4.0 hours of engineering $750
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.

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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-2023-47518 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