CVE-2023-52211
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 · uneditedMissing Authorization vulnerability in Automattic WP Job Manager.This issue affects WP Job Manager: from n/a through 2.0.0.
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 confidenceMissing Authorization vulnerability in Automattic WP Job Manager plugin. The vulnerability allows authenticated users to potentially access or modify data without proper permission checks, likely due to missing capability checks or direct object reference validation in certain plugin functions.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
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
- None
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Confirm WP Job Manager plugin is installedNavigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins, or check /wp-content/plugins/ directory for wp-job-manager folder. Identify the installed version number from the plugin headers if visible.Affected if The plugin is installed and active in the WordPress environment.
-
Identify user role capabilities for job managementReview user roles (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) in Users > Roles or via a role management plugin. Check if lower-privileged roles like Subscriber can access job submission, editing, or deletion functions.Affected if Subscribers or other low-privilege users have capabilities beyond their intended scope, such as deleting or editing other users' job listings.
-
Inspect job submission and edit endpointsExamine the plugin settings under Job Listings > Settings. Look for endpoints that handle job submissions, edits, or deletions. Check if these endpoints validate ownership before allowing modifications.Affected if Job edit/delete endpoints accept and process requests without verifying that the requesting user owns the specific job listing (potential IDOR).
-
Test for unauthorized access via direct object referenceUsing a secondary user account with lower privileges (e.g., Author), attempt to access or modify a job listing created by a different user by manipulating ID parameters in the URL or POST data.Affected if A user with limited permissions can access, modify, or delete job listings belonging to other users by changing the job ID in the request.
-
Review AJAX actions for missing capability checksCheck the plugin's AJAX handlers (typically in includes/class-wp-job-manager-ajax.php or similar). Look for hooks like wp_ajax_* and wp_ajax_nopriv_* that process sensitive operations without calling current_user_can() or similar authorization checks.Affected if AJAX actions that modify job data are accessible to unauthenticated users or execute without verifying user capabilities.
If the WP Job Manager plugin is active and allows lower-privileged users to access, modify, or delete job listings they do not own through direct object references or unchecked AJAX endpoints, the environment is affected by this missing authorization vulnerability.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedImplement proper WordPress capability checks and authorization verification for all user-accessible actions in the plugin, ensuring users can only access resources they are authorized for.
2.0.1 or later (recommended: latest stable release)
- Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard.
- Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins.
- Find WP Job Manager and note the current version (it should be ≤2.0.0).
- If an update is shown, click “Update Now” to install the latest stable version (≥2.0.1).
- Alternatively, download the newest version from the WordPress plugin repository and upload it manually via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
- After upgrading, verify the fix by testing that unauthorized users can no longer access the previously vulnerable endpoint.
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation6.0 h
- Testing3.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-52211 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2023-52211 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
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.
- 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