dbcve.org
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)Weakness · CWE-352

CVE-2023-7065

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-05-04
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
61/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
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
The Stop Spammers Security | Block Spam Users, Comments, Forms plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 2024.4. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the sfs_process AJAX action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to add arbitrary IPs to the plugin's allowlist and blocklist via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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 Stop Spammers Security WordPress plugin has a CSRF vulnerability in the sfs_process AJAX action due to missing or incorrect nonce validation. This allows unauthenticated attackers to manipulate the plugin's IP allowlist and blocklist by forging requests that trick an authenticated administrator into triggering them.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to the patched version once available, and verify that proper nonce validation is implemented on the sfs_process AJAX action. As a defense-in-depth measure, consider deploying a WAF rule to inspect for suspicious IP manipulation attempts.

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
None
Integrity
Low
Availability
Low

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

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 Stop Spammers Security plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin dashboard > Plugins and locate Stop Spammers Security in the list of installed plugins
    Affected if The plugin appears in the installed plugins list
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    Click on the plugin in the WordPress plugins list to view its version number, or check the plugin header in its main PHP file (typically stop-spammers.php)
    Affected if The installed version falls within the vulnerable version range (check against official plugin repository for patch version)
  3. Verify sfs_process AJAX action is accessible
    Check if the AJAX endpoint /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=sfs_process responds and accepts requests. This can be tested by examining the plugin's registered AJAX handlers in its code.
    Affected if The sfs_process action is registered and accessible without requiring authentication for certain operations
  4. Inspect nonce validation on sfs_process
    Review the plugin source code for the sfs_process AJAX handler. Look for wp_verify_nonce or check_admin_referer calls within the function handling this action.
    Affected if The sfs_process handler lacks proper nonce validation or uses incorrect nonce verification logic

If the plugin is installed and its version is unpatched, the sfs_process AJAX action exists without proper nonce validation, then the environment is vulnerable to CSRF-based IP list manipulation.

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

Update the plugin to the patched version once available, and verify that proper nonce validation is implemented on the sfs_process AJAX action. As a defense-in-depth measure, consider deploying a WAF rule to inspect for suspicious IP manipulation attempts.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

2024.5 or later

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate the 'Stop Spammers Security | Block Spam Users, Comments, Forms' plugin
  4. Click 'Update Now' to install the latest version, or manually download the updated plugin from wordpress.org if automatic update is unavailable
  5. After updating, verify the sfs_process AJAX action now includes proper nonce validation by reviewing plugin code or release notes
  6. Confirm the update was successful and the plugin is functioning normally

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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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-2023-7065 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