Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-0715 lets any logged-in WordPress user, including a subscriber, trigger a Wicked Folders action meant for administrators. The impact is limited to integrity and availability of the plugin’s folder organization, not direct data theft. Sites with public registration or many low-privilege users should treat this as operationally relevant.
Executive priority
Handle in normal vulnerability remediation cycles, faster for externally exposed WordPress sites with public registration. Business risk is disruption or unauthorized reorganization of editorial content workflows, not full site compromise based on the supplied evidence.
Technical view
Wicked Folders through 2.18.16 lacks an authorization capability check in ajax_clone_folder. An authenticated low-privilege user can invoke the function and modify the folder structure maintained by the plugin. The issue maps to CWE-862 and has CVSS 3.1 score 5.4: network-accessible, low complexity, low privileges, no user interaction.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites using Wicked Folders version 2.18.16 or earlier, especially where untrusted users can authenticate. Sites without the plugin, without low-privilege users, or with a vendor-fixed version are less exposed.
Exploitation context
The bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or public active exploitation evidence. The vulnerability requires an authenticated account, so abuse is most plausible from compromised users, malicious subscribers, or sites allowing public registration.
Researcher notes
The source bundle identifies the vulnerable function and missing capability check, but affected metadata is inconsistent: the affected entry lists version “0” while the title and description state versions through 2.18.16. Treat 2.18.16 and earlier as the actionable range unless vendor records say otherwise.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for Wicked Folders version 2.18.16 or earlier.
- Check vendor and Wordfence guidance for the fixed release before updating.
- Update Wicked Folders to a vendor-fixed version when available.
- Disable or remove the plugin where it is not business-critical.
- Limit public registration and remove unnecessary low-privilege accounts.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Wicked Folders is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record the installed plugin version and compare it with 2.18.16.
- Review user registration settings and subscriber account population.
- Check for unexpected changes to Wicked Folders folder structures.
- Review plugin changelog or code for an added capability check.
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-2023-0715 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/c3728280-3487-4cb2-8e37-f33811bc0a22?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/c3728280-3487-4cb2-8e37-f33811bc0a22CVE 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.