Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-3403 affects the ProfileGrid WordPress plugin. A logged-in low-privilege user could import or update users because an import function lacked proper authorization checks. For membership sites, this creates account-management risk, but the public sources do not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for customer portals, communities, and membership sites where untrusted users can register. This is not sourced as actively exploited, but it affects account integrity and should be handled in the normal urgent plugin-update cycle.
Technical view
ProfileGrid versions up to and including 5.5.1 have CWE-862 missing authorization in pm_upload_csv. Authenticated attackers with subscriber-level access or higher can import new users and modify existing users. CVSS 3.1 is 5.4, with low integrity and availability impact and no confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
WordPress sites running ProfileGrid at version 5.5.1 or earlier are the likely exposure, especially sites allowing public registration or many subscriber-level users. Sites without the plugin, or running versions outside the affected range, are not indicated as affected by the supplied sources.
Exploitation context
The issue requires an authenticated account with subscriber-level permissions or above. The bundle marks KEV as false, and no cited source in the bundle states active exploitation. Treat exposure as more urgent where untrusted users can create accounts.
Researcher notes
Evidence is strongest for the affected function, missing capability check, privilege requirement, and affected version range. The supplied bundle does not provide exploitation-in-the-wild evidence. The WordPress Trac changeset should be reviewed to understand the authorization change without deriving offensive procedures.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for the ProfileGrid plugin and installed version.
- Update ProfileGrid beyond the affected versions using vendor or WordPress plugin guidance.
- Temporarily restrict untrusted account creation where public registration is enabled.
- Review user import and account-change activity for unexpected additions or modifications.
- Limit administrative import workflows to trusted roles until remediation is confirmed.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether ProfileGrid is installed and at version 5.5.1 or earlier.
- Verify public registration and subscriber access assumptions for each exposed site.
- Review WordPress users for unexpected new accounts or altered existing accounts.
- Confirm after updating that low-privilege users cannot perform user imports.
- Document findings, plugin versions, and remediation dates for audit tracking.
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 lookupCVE-2023-3403 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/b335fc19-2998-4711-8813-6cb68d7447bd?source=cveCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities/tags/5.4.8/admin/class-profile-magic-admin.php#L1027CVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/2938904/profilegrid-user-profiles-groups-and-communities#file0CVE reference
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.