Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-39307 is a high-severity file upload flaw in the WordPress Avada theme through 7.11.1. A logged-in attacker could upload a dangerous file type, potentially leading to compromise of site data, content integrity, and availability.
Executive priority
Treat this as a priority remediation item for any business-critical WordPress site using Avada. The authenticated requirement lowers broad internet exposure, but successful abuse could affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-434 unrestricted upload of a file with a dangerous type in ThemeFusion Avada through 7.11.1. The CVSS 3.1 score is 8.5 with network access, low privileges required, no user interaction, high impact, and high attack complexity.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely on WordPress sites running the Avada theme at version 7.11.1 or earlier, especially where untrusted or broadly distributed authenticated accounts exist.
Exploitation context
The supplied sources do not state active exploitation, and the CVE is not marked as CISA KEV. Exploitation requires an authenticated user but may still be serious on sites with subscriber, contributor, customer, or compromised user accounts.
Researcher notes
Evidence is limited to the CVE metadata and Patchstack entry. The bundle does not provide a fixed version, exploit details, or confirmed in-the-wild exploitation. Avoid assuming unauthenticated impact or a specific patch level without vendor confirmation.
Mitigation direction
- Identify all WordPress sites running ThemeFusion Avada.
- Check whether Avada is version 7.11.1 or earlier.
- Review ThemeFusion and Patchstack guidance for the fixed version or workaround.
- Update Avada according to official vendor guidance.
- Remove unnecessary WordPress accounts and reduce excessive roles.
- Monitor upload locations for unexpected executable or script-like files.
Validation and detection
- Confirm each WordPress site’s active theme and Avada version.
- Verify no production site remains on Avada 7.11.1 or earlier.
- Review authenticated user accounts for stale, compromised, or overprivileged access.
- Check web and WordPress logs for unusual upload activity.
- Inspect upload and theme-related directories for unexpected dangerous file types.
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-434: File access and web shell behavior lookup
File traversal and upload weaknesses can lead teams to review file, web shell, execution, and collection telemetry. 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 lookupFile access behavior lookup
The CVE wording references file access or upload behavior, so file telemetry and web shell review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2023-39307 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
- High
- CVSS
- 8.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
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:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H1.86Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.5HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
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.
Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type
Unrestricted Upload of File with Dangerous Type represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.