Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This affects WordPress sites using Social Warfare through version 4.3.0. A logged-in low-privilege user, such as a subscriber, could perform actions normally requiring higher permissions, including deleting post metadata or resetting network access tokens. The risk is operational disruption and unauthorized changes, not data theft based on the provided CVSS.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority WordPress hygiene issue. It is not described as remotely exploitable without login, but affected sites with open registration should be remediated promptly because low-privilege accounts can cause unauthorized changes and service disruption.
Technical view
CVE-2023-0402 is a CWE-862 missing authorization issue in several Social Warfare AJAX actions. The flaw allows authenticated attackers with subscriber-level permissions or higher to delete post meta information and reset network access tokens. CVSS 3.1 is 5.4, with low attack complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, and limited integrity and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress installations running the Social Warfare plugin at version 4.3.0 or earlier, where an attacker already has an authenticated account. Public-facing sites with open registration or many low-privilege users have higher practical exposure.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. The issue is still meaningful because subscriber-level access is commonly easier to obtain than administrator access, especially on sites with public registration, contributors, or weak account governance.
Researcher notes
The provided evidence identifies authorization bypass in AJAX handling, not a confidentiality issue. Public references include Wordfence intelligence, the older plugin source location, and a WordPress plugin changeset. The bundle does not provide exploit details, active exploitation evidence, or a fully quoted fixed-version advisory.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for Social Warfare versions 4.3.0 or earlier.
- Upgrade to a vendor-supported Social Warfare release newer than 4.3.0, if available.
- Check vendor and WordPress plugin guidance for the exact fixed release.
- Remove unnecessary subscriber or low-privilege accounts from affected sites.
- Review and rotate affected network access tokens where Social Warfare was exposed.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Social Warfare is installed and record the exact plugin version.
- Verify no affected site remains on version 4.3.0 or earlier.
- Review low-privilege WordPress accounts for unnecessary access.
- Check logs for unusual authenticated admin-ajax activity involving Social Warfare.
- Validate post metadata and network token settings after remediation.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-862: Authorization and privilege behavior lookup
Authorization weaknesses can support privilege escalation and valid-account review, depending on exploit path. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupPrivilege behavior lookup
The CVE wording references privilege impact, so privilege escalation and authorization behavior review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-0402 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 5.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L2.82.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/4bc4ba2c-32eb-46c5-bb40-7c0150fc1ca4?source=cveCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/social-warfare/trunk/lib/options/SWP_Options_Page.php?rev=2364155#L923CVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=2844092%40social-warfare&new=2844092%40social-warfare&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=CVE reference
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/4bc4ba2c-32eb-46c5-bb40-7c0150fc1ca4CVE reference · x_transferred
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Missing Authorization
Missing Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.