dbcve.org
Information ExposureWeakness · CWE-200

CVE-2023-7046

HIGH · 7.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-09
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
84/100
Remediation priority · High
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 WP Encryption – One Click Free SSL Certificate & SSL / HTTPS Redirect to Force HTTPS, SSL Score plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 7.0 via exposed Private key files. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to extract sensitive data including TLS Certificate Private Keys

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 WP Encryption WordPress plugin up to version 7.0 contains a path traversal or improper access control vulnerability that exposes TLS certificate private key files to unauthenticated attackers via direct URL access. This allows complete compromise of the site's SSL/TLS infrastructure, enabling decryption of encrypted traffic, site impersonation, and man-in-the-middle attacks.

MitigationImmediately update the plugin to the latest version if available, regenerate all SSL certificates whose private keys may have been exposed, and rotate any credentials protected by those certificates. Additionally, restrict filesystem permissions on the private key storage directory to prevent unauthorized access.

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
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/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 WP Encryption plugin is installed
    Check your WordPress installation's wp-content/plugins/ directory or access Plugins > Installed Plugins in the WordPress admin panel to verify the WP Encryption plugin is present
    Affected if The plugin is found in the plugins directory or WordPress admin
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, click on the WP Encryption plugin to view its details, or open the main plugin PHP file (usually wp-encryption.php or similar) and locate the 'Version' header in the plugin comments
    Affected if The version number displayed is 7.0 or lower, or if no version is shown but the plugin is present
  3. Locate SSL private key files on the server
    Search the webroot and plugin directories for files with .key, .pem, or private key extensions. Common paths include /wp-content/uploads/ssl/, /wp-content/plugins/wp-encryption/keys/, or within the wp-content directory. Use 'find' command: find /var/www -name '*.key' -o -name '*.pem' 2>/dev/null
    Affected if Private key files (.key, .pem) exist in any web-accessible directory or within the WP Encryption plugin folder
  4. Test direct URL access to private key files
    Attempt to access suspected private key URLs directly via browser or curl, for example: curl -I https://yourdomain.com/wp-content/uploads/ssl/yourdomain.key or similar paths. Check if the file content is served instead of a 403/404 error
    Affected if A private key file is served with HTTP 200 status and displays key content (-----BEGIN PRIVATE KEY-----) when accessed via direct URL without authentication
  5. Check filesystem permissions on key directories
    Run 'ls -la' on directories containing SSL keys, for example: ls -la /wp-content/uploads/ssl/ or ls -la /wp-content/plugins/wp-encryption/. Verify file permissions (the last column in ls output)
    Affected if Private key files or their directories have permissions of 755, 777, or allow world-read access (any permission string containing 'r--' for 'others')

A user is affected if the WP Encryption plugin version is 7.0 or lower AND private key files exist in web-accessible locations that can be retrieved via direct unauthenticated HTTP requests.

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
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Immediately update the plugin to the latest version if available, regenerate all SSL certificates whose private keys may have been exposed, and rotate any credentials protected by those certificates. Additionally, restrict filesystem permissions on the private key storage directory to prevent unauthorized access.

Have this fixed 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 help mitigating

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

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2023-7046 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

Get it on GitHub Scan in the browser

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-2023-7046 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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