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Wpforo ForumWordPress extension · Gvectors

CVE-2023-47868

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-17
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.2.4 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
Improper Privilege Management vulnerability in wpForo wpForo Forum allows Privilege Escalation.This issue affects wpForo Forum: from n/a through 2.2.3.

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

wpForo Forum plugin versions up to 2.2.3 contain an improper privilege management vulnerability that allows authenticated users to escalate their privileges beyond what their assigned role should permit, potentially gaining administrative access to the WordPress site.

MitigationUpgrade wpForo Forum to the latest version to obtain the patched code that properly enforces role-based access controls. If upgrading is not immediately possible, consider restricting forum user registrations or disabling the plugin until a patch can be applied.

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
Wpforo ForumWordPress extension
Affected:< 2.2.4

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
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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify installed wpForo version
    Log into WordPress admin, navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins, locate 'wpForo Forum' and read the version number from the plugin description. Alternatively, inspect /wp-content/plugins/wpforo/ folder and check the main plugin file header for 'Version:' field.
    Affected if Version displayed is less than 2.2.4 (for example, 2.2.3, 2.2.2, etc.)
  2. Confirm wpForo plugin is active
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and verify that wpForo Forum shows as 'Active' under the plugin status.
    Affected if Plugin status shows 'Active' and version is below 2.2.4
  3. Check if WordPress user registration is enabled
    In WordPress admin, go to Settings > General and look for the 'Membership' setting 'Anyone can register' - verify whether this checkbox is ticked.
    Affected if Anyone can register is enabled and wpForo version is below 2.2.4, allowing potential new users to exploit the privilege escalation
  4. Review existing user roles with forum access
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and examine the role column. Check if any users exist with roles other than Administrator (such as Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) who may have forum access.
    Affected if Non-admin users exist on the site and wpForo version is below 2.2.4, as these users could potentially escalate their privileges

Your environment is affected if wpForo Forum plugin version is below 2.2.4, the plugin is active, and your site has authenticated non-admin users or allows public registration, enabling potential privilege escalation beyond assigned roles.

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 2.2.4 or later
Fixed in 2.2.4
Interim mitigation

Upgrade wpForo Forum to the latest version to obtain the patched code that properly enforces role-based access controls. If upgrading is not immediately possible, consider restricting forum user registrations or disabling the plugin until a patch can be applied.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

wpForo Forum version 2.2.4 or later

  1. 1. Back up your WordPress site and database before performing any updates
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins in your WordPress admin dashboard
  3. 3. Locate wpForo Forum in the plugin list
  4. 4. Check if current version is below 2.2.4
  5. 5. If vulnerable, click 'Update now' on the wpForo Forum plugin or update via WordPress updates
  6. 6. Verify the update completed successfully
  7. 7. Test forum 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 Wpforo Forum Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA3.0 h
16.0 hours of engineering $2,820
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,512.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2023-47868 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