Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
This WordPress plugin issue lets an attacker change the plugin's settings only if they can trick a logged-in site administrator into taking an action. The expected business impact is limited integrity risk, not data theft or outage based on the provided CVSS vector.
Executive priority
Treat as a routine but real WordPress hygiene issue. Prioritize remediation where the plugin is installed on public or business-critical sites, but it does not indicate emergency response from the provided evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2023-1068 is a CSRF flaw in Download Read More Excerpt Link up to and including 1.6.0. Missing or incorrect nonce validation in read_more_excerpt_link_menu_options() can allow unauthenticated, forged settings updates when an administrator is induced to interact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites using the affected Read More Excerpt Link plugin version, especially versions up to 1.6.0, with administrators who can be targeted by malicious links or pages.
Exploitation context
The supplied data does not show CISA KEV listing or active exploitation. Exploitation requires user interaction by a site administrator, lowering urgency compared with remotely exploitable flaws, but settings tampering can still affect site behavior.
Researcher notes
The key control failure is CSRF protection around read_more_excerpt_link_menu_options(). The provided CVSS vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N, matching low-integrity impact with administrator interaction required. Affected-version metadata in the bundle is limited, so verify against vendor records.
Mitigation direction
- Update the plugin to a vendor-supported fixed version, if available.
- Review the WordPress Trac changeset referenced for the nonce-validation fix.
- Restrict administrator browsing from untrusted links while remediation is pending.
- Check vendor and Wordfence guidance for any updated remediation details.
Validation and detection
- Inventory WordPress sites for the Read More Excerpt Link plugin.
- Confirm installed plugin versions and flag versions up to 1.6.0.
- Review plugin code or release notes for nonce validation on settings updates.
- Check logs or configuration history for unexpected plugin settings changes.
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-2023-1068 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
- 4.3 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/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:N/I:L/A:N2.81.4Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
4.3MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0359434b-9d88-4a40-8e9f-ec354c8de816?source=cveCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/2871098/read-more-excerpt-link/trunk/read-more-excerpt-link.phpCVE reference
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0359434b-9d88-4a40-8e9f-ec354c8de816CVE 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.