dbcve.org
The Events CalendarWordPress extension · Stellarwp

CVE-2023-6557

MEDIUM · 5.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-02-05
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 6.2.8.2 or later.
See remediation →
62/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
The The Events Calendar plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 6.2.8.2 via the route function hooked into wp_ajax_nopriv_tribe_dropdown. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to extract potentially sensitive data including post titles and IDs of pending, private and draft posts.

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 · high confidence

The Events Calendar plugin for WordPress has an information disclosure vulnerability in the wp_ajax_nopriv_tribe_dropdown AJAX handler. The route function accessible to unauthenticated users fails to properly restrict access to post metadata, allowing extraction of titles and IDs from pending, private, and draft posts that should not be visible to non-logged-in users.

MitigationUpdate The Events Calendar plugin to version 6.2.8.3 or later, which contains the fix for this authorization bypass. Until then, consider disabling the vulnerable AJAX endpoint via a web application firewall or temporarily deactivating the plugin.

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
The Events CalendarWordPress extension
Affected:<= 6.2.8.2

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
Low
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/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. Confirm plugin installation and version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate 'The Events Calendar'. Note the version number displayed. Alternatively, check the plugin header in wp-content/plugins/the-events-calendar/readme.txt or query the database: SELECT option_value FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'the_events_calendar_version';
    Affected if The installed version is 6.2.8.2 or lower.
  2. Verify AJAX endpoint is accessible to unauthenticated users
    Send a crafted GET or POST request to your site's /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=tribe_dropdown endpoint without logging in. Use curl: curl -s 'https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=tribe_dropdown'
    Affected if The endpoint responds with HTTP 200 and returns data without requiring authentication.
  3. Test for unauthorized metadata exposure
    Send a request to the tribe_dropdown endpoint and examine the response for post titles, IDs, or content from posts with status 'pending', 'private', or 'draft'. Example: curl -s 'https://yoursite.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=tribe_dropdown' | grep -i 'pending\|private\|draft'
    Affected if The response contains titles, IDs, or details from non-public posts that unauthenticated users should not access.
  4. Review WordPress post statuses in database
    Query the wp_posts table for non-public post types managed by the plugin: SELECT ID, post_title, post_status FROM wp_posts WHERE post_type IN ('tribe_events','tribe_venue','tribe_organizer') AND post_status IN ('pending','private','draft','auto-draft');
    Affected if There are pending, private, or draft events/venues/organizers in the database that could be exposed through the vulnerable endpoint.

You are affected if The Events Calendar plugin version is 6.2.8.2 or lower AND the tribe_dropdown AJAX endpoint responds to unauthenticated requests with data from non-public posts.

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 a release after 6.2.8.2
Interim mitigation

Update The Events Calendar plugin to version 6.2.8.3 or later, which contains the fix for this authorization bypass. Until then, consider disabling the vulnerable AJAX endpoint via a web application firewall or temporarily deactivating the plugin.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

The Events Calendar version 6.2.9 or later

  1. 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate 'The Events Calendar' plugin
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
  5. 5. Alternatively, download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/the-events-calendar/ and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  6. 6. After updating, verify the site functionality remains intact

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

Fix this in The Events Calendar Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,664.

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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-2023-6557 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