Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-0685 lets an attacker abuse a logged-in WordPress administrator’s browser to change Wicked Folders organization data. The attacker still needs user interaction, such as tricking an administrator into clicking a crafted link, so this is a targeted workflow-integrity risk rather than direct server takeover.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority WordPress plugin hygiene issue. It is not known to be actively exploited from the provided sources, but it can undermine administrator-controlled content organization when an admin is successfully phished.
Technical view
Wicked Folders through 2.18.16 lacks proper nonce validation in the ajax_unassign_folders AJAX function. Wordfence rates it CVSS 5.4 with network attack vector, low complexity, no attacker privileges, and required user interaction. Reported impact is low confidentiality and integrity loss, with no availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites running the Wicked Folders plugin at version 2.18.16 or earlier. Sites without the plugin, or with a vendor-confirmed fixed version, are not indicated as exposed by the provided sources.
Exploitation context
The sources do not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation. Practical abuse requires social engineering of an administrator and a valid administrator browser session. The known effect is unauthorized modification of the plugin’s folder structure, not arbitrary code execution.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports CWE-352 CSRF caused by missing or incorrect nonce validation on ajax_unassign_folders. The provided sources identify versions through 2.18.16 as vulnerable and include WordPress Trac references, but the bundle does not provide exploit evidence or a detailed vendor advisory.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for Wicked Folders version 2.18.16 or earlier.
- Update Wicked Folders according to vendor or WordPress plugin guidance.
- Disable the plugin if a fixed release cannot be confirmed promptly.
- Warn administrators against opening untrusted links while logged into WordPress.
- Review plugin and WordPress change logs for nonce validation fixes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Wicked Folders is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record the installed plugin version and compare it to 2.18.16.
- Review the ajax_unassign_folders handler for nonce validation in deployed code.
- Check administrative activity for unexpected Wicked Folders structure changes.
- Confirm remediation by verifying a vendor-fixed plugin version is installed.
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-352: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. 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 lookupCVE-2023-0685 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:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
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:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N2.82.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
5.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e52b27fa-10e8-43d0-be29-774c2f5487ae?source=cveCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wicked-folders/tags/2.18.16/lib/class-wicked-folders-ajax.phpCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&new=2860994%40wicked-folders%2Ftrunk&old=2805161%40wicked-folders%2Ftrunk&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=CVE reference
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e52b27fa-10e8-43d0-be29-774c2f5487aeCVE 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.
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.