Cyber Resilience

CVE-2023-46309

Access Control in Gvectors Wpdiscuz ≤ 7.6.11

Access Control
Published
02 January 2025
Modified
29 April 2026
CVSS Score v3.1 5.3
Click a component to see what it means
Raw vectorCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
EPSS Score 0.0035 28th percentile
Risk Priority 44 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2023-46309 is a medium-severity Missing Authorization (CWE-862) vulnerability in Gvectors Wpdiscuz. Its CVSS base score is 5.3 (Medium).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploitation for Privilege Escalation (T1068); ranked at the 28th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to AC-24 (Access Control Decisions) and AC-25 (Reference Monitor) — see the control section below for these in your framework.

Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary

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

CVE-2023-46309 is a missing authorization vulnerability (CWE-862) in the wpDiscuz WordPress plugin developed by AdvancedCoding. The flaw allows exploitation of incorrectly configured access control security levels and affects all versions of wpDiscuz from n/a through 7.6.10. Published on January 2, 2025, it carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 5.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N).

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this vulnerability remotely over the network with low attack complexity and no user interaction required. Exploitation enables limited integrity impacts, such as unauthorized modifications, by bypassing intended access controls in the plugin.

Patchstack provides details on this broken access control issue in wpDiscuz version 7.6.10 via its vulnerability database at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/wpdiscuz/vulnerability/wordpress-wpdiscuz-plugin-7-6-10-broken-access-control-vulnerability?_s_id=cve.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A01:2025 Broken Access Control

EU & UK References

Vulnerability Data

Missing Authorization vulnerability in AdvancedCoding wpDiscuz wpdiscuz allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects wpDiscuz: from n/a through <= 7.6.10.

CWE(s)
CWE-862

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques

T1068 Exploitation for Privilege Escalation Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may exploit software vulnerabilities in an attempt to elevate privileges.
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 →
T1210 Exploitation of Remote Services Lateral Movement
Adversaries may exploit remote services to gain unauthorized access to internal systems once inside of a network.
attack.mitre.org →
T1548 Abuse Elevation Control Mechanism Privilege Escalation
Adversaries may circumvent mechanisms designed to control privilege elevation to gain higher-level permissions.
attack.mitre.org →
T1556 Modify Authentication Process Defense Impairment
Adversaries may modify authentication mechanisms and processes to access user credentials or enable otherwise unwarranted access to accounts.
attack.mitre.org →
Derived from this CVE’s CWE(s) via the direct CWE→ATT&CK cross-walk.

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2023-45760Same product: Gvectors Wpdiscuz
CVE-2023-3869Same product: Gvectors Wpdiscuz
CVE-2023-3998Same product: Gvectors Wpdiscuz
CVE-2023-47870Same vendor: Gvectors
CVE-2025-43838Shared CWE-862
CVE-2023-7268Shared CWE-862
CVE-2024-1158Shared CWE-862
CVE-2024-37427Shared CWE-862
CVE-2025-59561Shared CWE-862
CVE-2025-31533Shared CWE-862

Affected Assets

gvectors
wpdiscuz
≤ 7.6.11

Mitigating Controls

Control response

Prevent
Stop it (NIST 800-53)

—

Detect
Catch it (NIST detect / respond)

—

Harden
Shrink the surface (DISA STIG)
  • 5 hardening rules · 3 OS baselines
Validate
Prove the fix (OWASP ASVS)

—

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

AC-3 Access Enforcement good match

AC-3 directly requires enforcement of authorization decisions on every access request, structurally eliminating missing authorization checks.

AC-24 Access Control Decisions good match

AC-24 mandates that access control decisions are applied to each request, preventing bypass of authorization logic.

AC-25 Reference Monitor good match

AC-25 requires a tamperproof, always-invoked reference monitor that ensures authorization checks cannot be omitted.

AC-6 Least Privilege partial match

AC-6 reduces the set of actions reachable without proper authorization, limiting blast radius of missing checks.

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.AA-05 full match
prevents

Explicitly requires defining, enforcing, and reviewing authorizations and least privilege, directly preventing missing authorization checks.

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.8.3 Information access restriction mostly match
prevents

Requiring authentication and credentials before any access occurs eliminates the absence of authorization checks that would otherwise allow an unauthenticated actor to reach protected resources.

A.5.15 Access control partial match
prevents

Requiring formal authorization of every access request before rights are granted ensures that checks for required permissions are performed, preventing missing authorization checks from being introduced.

A.5.18 Access rights partial match
prevents

Mandatory authorization checks and central records of granted rights ensure that every access attempt is preceded by an explicit decision rather than relying on missing checks.

A.5.3 Segregation of duties partial match
mitigates

Segregating the approval of access rights from their implementation provides an independent check that reduces the impact of missing authorization checks in the resulting system configuration.

A.5.35 Independent review of information security partial match
finds

By requiring competent outsiders to verify that every function enforces the need-to-know principle, the control lowers the likelihood that missing authorization checks persist undetected.

A.5.8 Information security in project management partial match
prevents

Defining authorization responsibilities and reviewing risk-treatment progress throughout the project lifecycle catches missing authorization checks before the system is deployed.

Hardening callouts derived

Configuration rules from DISA STIG baselines that bear on weaknesses of the type cited by this CVE. Each rule is shown with the relationship its mapping actually records, against the CWE it was authored against. Derived via CVE→CWE over `controls_xwalks` (authoritative rows only; rows rated `none` are excluded).

Oracle Linux 8 (2 rules)
  • V-248581 OL 8 must require users to provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
  • V-252656 The OL 8 operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
RHEL 7 (2 rules)
  • V-251704 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must not be configured to bypass password requirements for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862
  • V-204429 The Red Hat Enterprise Linux operating system must be configured so that users must provide a password for privilege escalation. prevents CWE-862

References