CVE-2023-40068
Published: 21 August 2023
Summary
CVE-2023-40068 is a medium-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability in Advancedcustomfields Advanced Custom Fields. Its CVSS base score is 5.4 (Medium).
Operationally, ranked in the top 3.4% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
Deeper analysis
CVE-2023-40068 is a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability (CWE-79) affecting Advanced Custom Fields and Advanced Custom Fields Pro versions 6.1.0 through 6.1.7. The flaw resides in the plugin's administrative interface and permits injection of malicious scripts that execute in the browser context of a logged-in administrator.
A remote authenticated attacker with contributor-level or higher privileges can supply crafted input that is later rendered when an administrator views the affected ACF screens. Successful exploitation results in arbitrary script execution within the administrator's session, enabling actions such as session hijacking or unauthorized configuration changes under the administrator's privileges.
The vendor released ACF 6.1.8 to address the issue, as noted in the official changelog and security advisory. Administrators are advised to update immediately via the WordPress plugin directory or the vendor site; no other workarounds are specified in the referenced advisories.
EPSS scores reached a peak of 0.3377, indicating measurable post-disclosure interest in the vulnerability.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2023-44675
Vulnerability details
Cross-site scripting vulnerability in Advanced Custom Fields versions 6.1.0 to 6.1.7 and Advanced Custom Fields Pro versions 6.1.0 to 6.1.7 allows a remote authenticated attacker to execute an arbitrary script on the web browser of the user who is logging…
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in to the product with the administrative privilege.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
No named actor attribution yet. ATT&CK technique mapping in progress for this CVE.
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
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.
Penetration testing submits XSS payloads to web applications, detecting cross-site scripting flaws for subsequent remediation.
Validates web inputs to reject script-related content that could produce XSS.
Output validation against expected content can reject or sanitize script content in generated web pages, reducing XSS exploitability.