Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
A WordPress plugin used for user-submitted content can store unsafe input that later runs as script in another user’s browser. This is medium severity because exploitation requires low privileges and victim interaction, but it can still affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability within the impacted site context.
Executive priority
Treat this as a moderate-priority web application risk. Prioritize public WordPress sites, sites with many contributors, and sites where administrators review user-submitted posts while authenticated.
Technical view
CVE-2023-7251 is a stored cross-site scripting issue in Jeff Starr User Submitted Posts through version 20230901. The CVSS 3.1 vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L, indicating network reachability, low attack complexity, required low privilege, and required user interaction.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites running the User Submitted Posts plugin at affected versions through 20230901. The bundle does not identify affected WordPress core versions, themes, hosting providers, or confirmed vulnerable configurations beyond the plugin.
Exploitation context
The source bundle marks KEV as false, and no provided source states active exploitation. Based on CVSS, an attacker needs low privileges and a victim must interact with affected content for script execution to matter.
Researcher notes
The provided evidence supports stored XSS classification, CWE-79, affected plugin lineage through 20230901, and CVSS 6.5. It does not provide payload details, exploit maturity, fixed version, or vendor advisory text in the bundle.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for the User Submitted Posts plugin and installed version.
- For versions through 20230901, check vendor or Patchstack guidance for remediation.
- Disable or remove the plugin where a supported fix is unavailable.
- Restrict user-submitted content workflows until remediation is confirmed.
- Monitor affected sites for suspicious post content or administrator-session anomalies.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether User Submitted Posts is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record plugin versions and flag any through 20230901.
- Review pages that render submitted content for unexpected script-like content.
- Verify remediation against vendor or Patchstack guidance before closing.
- Check logs for suspicious low-privilege submission activity.
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-2023-7251 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:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L2.33.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.5MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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.
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.