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Guest AuthorWordPress extension · Webfactoryltd

CVE-2023-49747

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-12-15
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 2.3 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
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in WebFactory Ltd Guest Author allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Guest Author: from n/a through 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

Stored Cross-site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the Guest Author WordPress plugin. The plugin fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input (likely author name, bio, or related fields) before outputting it in generated web pages, allowing malicious JavaScript to be stored and executed when other users view the affected content.

MitigationUpdate to the latest version of Guest Author when available, or apply input sanitization using WordPress sanitization functions (sanitize_text_field, esc_html, esc_attr) to all user-generated fields before output, combined with output encoding.

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
Guest AuthorWordPress extension
Affected:<= 2.3

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 Guest Author plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Guest Author' by Webfactory Ltd. Note the version number displayed.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and the version is 2.3 or lower.
  2. Confirm the installed version against affected range
    Compare the installed version number to the affected range (<= 2.3). The plugin version is typically visible on the plugins page or in the plugin's main PHP file header.
    Affected if The installed version is 2.3 or any version lower than 2.3.
  3. Identify stored guest author data
    Query the WordPress database (wp_postmeta table) for meta keys related to guest author fields. Common meta keys include '_guest_author_name', '_guest_author_bio', 'guest_author', or similar. Use: SELECT * FROM wp_postmeta WHERE meta_key LIKE '%guest_author%';
    Affected if Any guest author entries exist in the database with unsanitized user input.
  4. Inspect guest author fields for malicious content
    Review the values stored in guest author meta fields for HTML, JavaScript, or script tags. Look for patterns like '<script>', 'javascript:', 'onerror=', 'onload=' within the meta_value columns.
    Affected if Any stored values contain HTML tags, JavaScript code, or XSS payload patterns.
  5. Check frontend output of guest author data
    View a page or post that displays a guest author on the frontend. View the page source and verify whether the author name/bio fields are rendered with proper encoding (htmlspecialchars, esc_html) or as raw unescaped HTML.
    Affected if The guest author fields display raw HTML or unescaped characters when viewed on the frontend.

You are affected if the Guest Author plugin version is 2.3 or lower AND guest author data (name, bio, or related fields) contains unsanitized user input that renders as executable code 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.

From vendor data
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 2.3
Interim mitigation

Update to the latest version of Guest Author when available, or apply input sanitization using WordPress sanitization functions (sanitize_text_field, esc_html, esc_attr) to all user-generated fields before output, combined with output encoding.

Fix this in Guest Author Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

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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-2023-49747 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