Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-0514

XSS in Membership Database Project Membership Database ≤ 1.0

Public PoCXSS
Published
08 May 2023
Modified
04 February 2025
CVSS Score v3.1 6.1
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0085 55th percentile
Risk Priority 56 floored blend · peak EPSS

CVSS and EPSS are reproduced from their sources (NVD, FIRST EPSS). Risk Priority is our own derived reading, not an NVD score.

Summary

CVE-2023-0514 is a medium-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Membership Database Project Membership Database. Its CVSS base score is 6.1 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Browser Session Hijacking (T1185); ranked in the top 45% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.

The Membership Database WordPress plugin through version 1.0 is affected by a reflected cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79) tracked as CVE-2023-0514. The flaw stems from insufficient sanitization and escaping of an unspecified parameter that is later reflected back into the page output, as indicated by its CVSS 3.1 score of 6.1.

An unauthenticated remote attacker can exploit the issue by crafting a malicious link that, when clicked by a high-privilege user such as an administrator, executes arbitrary script code in the victim's browser context with changed scope. The attack requires user interaction but needs no prior authentication.

The primary public reference is a WPScan advisory entry that documents the vulnerability; no specific patch version, mitigation steps, or workaround details are provided in the available information. The associated EPSS score remains flat at 0.1245 with no material increase since disclosure.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

The Membership Database WordPress plugin through 1.0 does not sanitise and escape a parameter before outputting it back in the page, leading to a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting which could be used against high privilege users such as admin

CWE(s)
CWE-79

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1185 Browser Session Hijacking Collection
Adversaries may take advantage of security vulnerabilities and inherent functionality in browser software to change content, modify user-behaviors, and intercept information as part of various browser session hijacking techniques.
attack.mitre.org →
T1539 Steal Web Session Cookie Credential Access
An adversary may steal web application or service session cookies and use them to gain access to web applications or Internet services as an authenticated user without needing credentials.
attack.mitre.org →
T1659 Content Injection Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access and continuously communicate with victims by injecting malicious content into systems through online network traffic.
attack.mitre.org →
T1189 Drive-by Compromise Initial Access
Adversaries may gain access to a system through a user visiting a website over the normal course of browsing.
attack.mitre.org →
T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-41136Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-2768Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-38476Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-5026Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-27225Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-37132Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-28774Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-3539Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-3074Shared CWE-79
CVE-2023-37269Shared CWE-79

Affected Assets

membership database project
membership database
≤ 1.0

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)

—

Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)
  • V1.1.2
  • V1.3.2

Likely Mitigating Controls AI

Per-CVE control mapping for this CVE has not run yet; the list below is derived from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry.

CA-8 Penetration Testing
addresses: CWE-79

Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.

SI-10 Information Input Validation
addresses: CWE-79

Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.

SI-15 Information Output Filtering
addresses: CWE-79

Output validation against expected content can reject or sanitize script content in generated web pages, reducing XSS exploitability.

Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

PR.PS-06 mostly match
prevents

Secure SDLC practices directly target introduction of XSS via coding standards/testing (mostly), yet the single broad outcome leaves many specific neutralization vectors unaddressed (partial).

PR.PS-02 partial match
prevents

Patching and EOL replacement can remediate known XSS instances in libraries or frameworks (partial) but do nothing to enforce input neutralization in application code (none).

Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI

Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.

A.8.29 Security testing in development and acceptance mostly match
finds

Secure-coding testing and automated code-analysis tools are applied to detect improper neutralization of script-related content during web-page generation.

A.5.6 Contact with special interest groups partial match
prevents

Knowledge exchange on emerging attack techniques and patches reduces the likelihood that cross-site scripting flaws remain unaddressed in deployed applications.

A.5.7 Threat intelligence partial match
prevents

Operational indicators of compromise for web-application attacks can be incorporated into WAF or input-filtering rules, lowering the likelihood that unsanitized data reaches the browser.

A.8.25 Secure development life cycle partial match
prevents

Requiring language-specific secure-coding standards and automated scanning during the SDLC catches missing output encoding or improper neutralization of untrusted data before the software reaches production.

A.8.28 Secure coding partial match
prevents

Secure-coding standards, SAST scans and removal of insecure code samples together eliminate the failure to neutralize script content that produces cross-site scripting flaws.

References