Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
WordPress sites using List category posts up to 0.89.3 can let a logged-in contributor or higher plant scripts through a shortcode. Those scripts run when someone views the affected page. Urgency is moderate, especially where untrusted authors exist or administrators review contributor content.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for public WordPress sites with multiple authors, contractors, or any contributor accounts. The vulnerability is not ranked critical, but stored XSS can expose privileged sessions or alter viewed content, making it a practical business risk in editorial workflows.
Technical view
CVE-2023-6994 is stored cross-site scripting in the List category posts WordPress plugin's catlist shortcode. The issue is insufficient sanitization and output escaping of user-supplied shortcode attributes. CVSS 3.1 is 6.4 with low privileges required, changed scope, and low confidentiality and integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to WordPress installations running the List category posts plugin at version 0.89.3 or earlier, with contributor-level or higher accounts able to create shortcode content. Sites without the plugin, without contributor access, or on unaffected versions are not indicated as exposed by the bundle.
Exploitation context
The source bundle does not support active exploitation, and KEV is false. Abuse requires authenticated contributor-level or higher access, then stored script execution when a user visits the injected page. This matters most if compromised, shared, or semi-trusted author accounts exist.
Researcher notes
Evidence identifies CWE-79 in catlist shortcode attribute handling through missing sanitization and escaping. The bundle includes Wordfence, CVE, plugin source, and a WordPress Trac changeset, but does not provide exploit-in-the-wild evidence or a named fixed version beyond the affected range.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for the List category posts plugin and installed version.
- Treat versions up to and including 0.89.3 as affected.
- Update the plugin according to WordPress or vendor guidance.
- Restrict contributor-level content creation to trusted accounts until remediated.
- Review recent contributor content using catlist shortcodes for suspicious attributes.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether the plugin is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record the installed plugin version and compare it with 0.89.3.
- Identify users with contributor-level or higher permissions.
- Review pages and posts containing catlist shortcodes.
- Check vendor, WordPress plugin, and Wordfence advisories for remediation status.
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-79: 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-2023-6994 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
- 6.4 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/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:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N3.12.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.4MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/611871cc-737f-44e3-baf5-dbaa8bd8eb81?source=cveCVE reference
- https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/list-category-posts/trunk/include/lcp-wrapper.phpCVE reference
- https://plugins.svn.wordpress.org/list-category-posts/trunk/list-category-posts.phpCVE reference
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=3018689%40list-category-posts&new=3018689%40list-category-posts&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=CVE 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.
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.