dbcve.org
Business DirectoryWordPress extension · Businessdirectoryplugin

CVE-2023-5803

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2023-11-30
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.3.10 or later.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
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
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in Business Directory Team Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing Directories for WordPress allows Cross-Site Request Forgery.This issue affects Business Directory Plugin – Easy Listing Directories for WordPress: from n/a through 6.3.10.

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

Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerability in the Business Directory Plugin for WordPress allows attackers to trick authenticated users into performing unintended actions (such as modifying listings, changing settings, or deleting content) by forging requests. The plugin likely lacks proper anti-CSRF token (nonce) validation on state-changing operations, enabling attackers to execute actions on behalf of legitimate users.

MitigationImplement WordPress nonce verification on all state-changing operations (forms and AJAX actions) by adding wp_nonce_field() to forms and verifying with check_admin_referer() or wp_verify_nonce() before processing any data.

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
Business DirectoryWordPress extension
Affected:<= 6.3.10

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
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/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. Verify Business Directory Plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Business Directory Plugin' or 'Business Directory' in the list. Note whether it is active or inactive.
    Affected if The plugin is not installed or is not active, as the vulnerability only affects the active plugin.
  2. Determine the installed plugin version
    In the plugins list, click on the plugin name to view its details, or check the plugin's main PHP file header for the 'Version' field. Business Directory Plugin version is typically listed in the plugin metadata.
    Affected if The installed version is <= 6.3.10, placing it within the affected version range.
  3. Inspect state-changing forms for nonce fields
    Use browser developer tools (Inspect Element) or view page source on frontend listing submission forms, admin settings pages, and user dashboard areas. Look for HTML input fields with names containing 'nonce' (such as '_wpnonce', 'nonce', or similar) within <form> tags for actions like adding/editing listings, changing settings, or deleting content.
    Affected if State-changing forms (listing submission, settings changes, deletion actions) lack nonce input fields, indicating the CSRF protection is missing.
  4. Inspect AJAX actions for nonce verification
    Check plugin JavaScript files (usually in /assets/js/ or /js/ folders) for AJAX calls that perform state-changing operations (create, update, delete listings or settings). Look for whether these calls include a nonce parameter (typically passed in the data object) and whether the server-side PHP handler verifies it using check_admin_referer() or wp_verify_nonce().
    Affected if AJAX actions that modify data do not include nonce parameters in requests, or the server does not verify nonces before processing.

A user is affected if the Business Directory Plugin is active at version 6.3.10 or lower and any state-changing operations (forms or AJAX) lack WordPress nonce validation.

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 6.3.10
Interim mitigation

Implement WordPress nonce verification on all state-changing operations (forms and AJAX actions) by adding wp_nonce_field() to forms and verifying with check_admin_referer() or wp_verify_nonce() before processing any data.

Fix this in Business Directory Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $3,984.

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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-2023-5803 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