Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2023-49857 is a broken access control issue in the WordPress Awesome Support plugin. The provided CVE data says versions through 6.1.7 are affected. It could let unauthenticated remote users perform unauthorized actions with limited integrity and availability impact. Evidence does not show active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat this as a timely patch-management issue for WordPress assets, especially customer support portals. It is not shown as actively exploited, but unauthenticated network reachability raises urgency above routine backlog work.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-862 Missing Authorization in awesomesupport Awesome Support. CVSS 3.1 is 6.5: network reachable, low complexity, no privileges, no user interaction, unchanged scope, low integrity and availability impact, no confidentiality impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to WordPress sites running Awesome Support at affected versions. The bundle says through 6.1.7, while the Patchstack reference title mentions 6.1.6, so version boundaries should be verified against vendor guidance.
Exploitation context
The source bundle marks KEV as false, and no cited source states active exploitation. The CVSS vector indicates the issue may be remotely reachable without authentication, but the documented business impact is limited rather than catastrophic.
Researcher notes
Primary uncertainty is the affected-version boundary: CVE text says <=6.1.7, while the Patchstack reference title says 6.1.6. Do not assume a fixed version from the provided data; confirm through vendor or Patchstack before closing remediation.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites using the Awesome Support plugin.
- Check Patchstack and vendor guidance for the confirmed fixed version.
- Update Awesome Support only to a vendor-confirmed fixed release.
- Disable or remove the plugin if no acceptable fix is available.
- Review plugin-related logs for unexpected support-ticket actions.
Validation and detection
- Confirm installed Awesome Support versions across all WordPress sites.
- Compare findings against CVE and Patchstack affected-version guidance.
- Verify whether the site exposes Awesome Support functionality publicly.
- Review access-control settings around support-ticket workflows.
- Check for unexpected changes or disruptions in support data.
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-2023-49857 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
- 6.5 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L3.92.5Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L
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.
Missing Authorization
Missing Authorization represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.