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Seraphinite AcceleratorWordPress extension · S Sols

CVE-2023-49740

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-14
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 2.20.29 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
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Seraphinite Solutions Seraphinite Accelerator allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Seraphinite Accelerator: from n/a through 2.20.28.

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

Seraphinite Accelerator WordPress plugin before 2.20.29 contains a reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability where user-supplied input is not properly sanitized before being reflected back in web page output. An attacker can inject malicious JavaScript code into URLs that get processed by the plugin, which then executes in the victim's browser when the crafted URL is visited.

MitigationUpdate Seraphinite Accelerator to version 2.20.29 or later which contains the security patch. Until then, implement WAF rules to filter XSS attack patterns in URLs and warn users not to click untrusted links.

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
Seraphinite AcceleratorWordPress extension
Affected:< 2.20.29

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 Seraphinite Accelerator is installed
    Locate the plugin in your WordPress installation at wp-content/plugins/ and confirm the folder is named 'seraphinite-accelerator' or similar. In the WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Seraphinite Accelerator'.
    Affected if The plugin is present in the plugins directory or listed in the WordPress admin plugins list.
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    In the WordPress admin, find the plugin in the Plugins list and look under the plugin name for the version number, or check the plugin's main PHP file (usually seraphinite-accelerator.php) for the 'Version' header in the file comments.
    Affected if The version displayed is lower than 2.20.29.
  3. Confirm vulnerability condition
    The reflected XSS flaw exists in how the plugin handles URL parameters. If your installed version is below 2.20.29, any URL parameter processed by the plugin could potentially reflect unsanitized input back to the user.
    Affected if The installed version is < 2.20.29 and the plugin is active on your site.

You are affected if the Seraphinite Accelerator plugin is installed and active with a version number lower than 2.20.29.

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 2.20.29 or later
Fixed in 2.20.29
Interim mitigation

Update Seraphinite Accelerator to version 2.20.29 or later which contains the security patch. Until then, implement WAF rules to filter XSS attack patterns in URLs and warn users not to click untrusted links.

Recommended fix High confidence

2.20.29

  1. 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate Seraphinite Accelerator in the plugin list
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to upgrade to version 2.20.29 or later
  5. 5. Alternatively, navigate to Dashboard > Updates and apply all available updates
  6. 6. After updating, verify the plugin is running version 2.20.29 or higher by checking the Plugins page

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

Fix this in Seraphinite Accelerator Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,210
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,936.

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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-2023-49740 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