CVE-2023-23729VulnerabilityPublished 9 Dec 2025

CVE-2023-23729: Spectra (WordPress plugin) · Missing Authorization

Affects Spectra (WordPress plugin)Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 5.4 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 06:26 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

5.4Medium

How severe the flaw is on the 0–10 CVSS scale.

EPSS: 0.2% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 16% of CVEsExploit Prediction Scoring System: the likelihood attackers will use this flaw soon.

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:L

Attack Vector: Network
Attack Complexity: Low
Privileges Required: Low
User Interaction: None
Scope: Unchanged
Confidentiality: None
Integrity: Low
Availability: Low

Bold values are the worst case: easiest to exploit or largest impact.

Attack Vector: Network: The vulnerable component is bound to the network stack and the set of possible attackers extends beyond the other options listed, up to and including the entire Internet. Such a vulnerability is often termed 'remotely exploitable' and can be thought of as an attack being exploitable at the protocol level one or more network hops away (e.g., across one or more routers).
Attack Complexity: Low: Specialized access conditions or extenuating circumstances do not exist. An attacker can expect repeatable success against the vulnerable component.
Privileges Required: Low: The attacker is authorized with (i.e., requires) privileges that provide basic user capabilities that could normally affect only settings and files owned by a user. Alternatively, an attacker with Low privileges may have the ability to cause an impact only to non-sensitive resources.
User Interaction: None: The vulnerable system can be exploited without any interaction from any user.
Scope: Unchanged: An exploited vulnerability can only affect resources managed by the same security authority. In this case, the vulnerable component and the impacted component are either the same, or both are managed by the same security authority.
Confidentiality: None: There is no loss of confidentiality within the impacted component.
Integrity: Low: Modification of data is possible, but the attacker does not have control over the consequence of a modification, or the amount of modification is limited. The data modification does not have a direct, serious impact on the impacted component.
Availability: Low: Performance is reduced or there are interruptions in resource availability. Even if repeated exploitation of the vulnerability is possible, the attacker does not have the ability to completely deny service to legitimate users. The resources in the impacted component are either partially available all of the time, or fully available only some of the time, but overall there is no direct, serious consequence to the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 9 Dec 2025
Detectable: no evidence on record.
No public nuclei template indexed
Weaponised: no evidence on record.
No public exploit code indexed in Metasploit or Exploit-DB
Exploited in the wildExploited: no evidence on record.
Not in CISA KEV and no source reports exploitation
Observed by OffSeq MirageSeen by Mirage: no evidence on record.
No attack traffic recorded by OffSeq Mirage sensors

A missing step is not evidence of safety. Sources: cve.org (opens in a new tab), the Metasploit, Exploit-DB and nuclei-templates index as of 2026-10-26.

Disclosed: The CVE record is public on cve.org. Its publication is t = 0.
Detectable: A public nuclei template can find exposed instances, for defenders and attackers alike.
Weaponised: Public exploit code exists in Metasploit or Exploit-DB, or CISA SSVC reports a public proof of concept.
Exploited in the wild: CISA KEV lists it, CISA SSVC rates exploitation active, or a source reports attacks.
Observed by OffSeq Mirage: OffSeq Mirage honeypot sensors recorded attack traffic for this CVE, or found exposed hosts without attack traffic.

Moments are spaced evenly, not to scale; a dashed line marks a gap of six months or more. Deltas count from t = 0. Sources that give only a date (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, or a time of exactly 00:00Z) read “same day” rather than hours. Metasploit modules carry the flaw’s disclosure date, not their release date, and nuclei templates carry no date, so both appear above but not on the timeline.

What to do

Affected software

Product	Affected	Fixed in
Brainstorm Force Spectra	Affected <=2.3.0	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

1. Monitor Brainstorm Force communications and official channels for patch releases addressing CVE-2023-23729 and apply updates promptly once available. 2. Conduct an immediate audit of user roles and permissions within WordPress environments using the Spectra plugin to ensure the principle of least privilege is enforced. 3. Implement additional access control mechanisms such as Web Application Firewalls (WAF) with custom rules to detect and block unauthorized requests targeting Spectra plugin endpoints. 4. Enable detailed logging and monitoring of administrative and plugin-related activities to detect anomalous behavior indicative of exploitation attempts. 5. Restrict network access to WordPress administrative interfaces to trusted IP ranges where feasible, reducing exposure to remote exploitation. 6. Educate site administrators and developers about the risks of missing authorization vulnerabilities and encourage secure coding and configuration practices. 7. Consider temporary disabling or replacing the Spectra plugin if immediate patching is not possible and the risk is deemed unacceptable.

Description

Missing Authorization vulnerability in Brainstorm Force Spectra allows Exploiting Incorrectly Configured Access Control Security Levels.This issue affects Spectra: from n/a through 2.3.0.

Impact

For European organizations, this vulnerability poses a moderate risk primarily to the integrity and availability of WordPress-based websites using the Spectra plugin. Unauthorized users with low privileges could exploit the missing authorization to alter site content, configurations, or potentially disrupt site functionality, leading to reputational damage, loss of customer trust, and operational downtime. Organizations in sectors relying heavily on web presence, such as e-commerce, media, and public services, may experience business interruptions or data integrity issues. Since confidentiality is not directly impacted, the risk of data breaches is lower; however, integrity and availability compromises can still have significant operational and compliance consequences under regulations like GDPR. The lack of known exploits currently reduces immediate risk but does not eliminate the threat, especially as attackers may develop exploits over time. European organizations should prioritize identifying affected systems and implementing controls to mitigate potential exploitation.

CWE-862Missing Authorization (opens in a new tab)
Class weaknessLikelihood of exploit: HighCWE Top 25 (2025): #4OWASP Top 10 A01:2025: Broken Access Control (opens in a new tab)
The product does not perform an authorization check when an actor attempts to access a resource or perform an action.
Architecture and Design
Divide the product into anonymous, normal, privileged, and administrative areas. Reduce the attack surface by carefully mapping roles with data and functionality. Use role-based access control (RBAC) to enforce the roles at the appropriate boundaries.
Architecture and Design
Ensure that access control checks are performed related to the business logic. These checks may be different than the access control checks that are applied to more generic resources such as files, connections, processes, memory, and database records.
Architecture and Design · Libraries or Frameworks
Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid.
OWASP Cheat Sheets
Authorization (opens in a new tab)
OWASP ASVS 4.0.3
V8.3.8 (opens in a new tab)
V13.4.2 (opens in a new tab)
V7.2.2 (opens in a new tab)
Attack patterns
Exploitation of Thunderbolt Protection Flaws (opens in a new tab)
From MITRE CWE, MITRE CAPEC and OWASP (Top 10, OpenCRE).

References

vdp.patchstack.com/database/wordpress/plugin/ultimate-addons-for-gutenberg/vulnerability/wordpress-spectra-wordpress-gutenberg-blocks-plugin-2-3-0-contributor-recaptcha-settings-change-vulnerability?_s_id=cve (opens in a new tab)

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 9 Dec 2025, 17:16 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-862

Technical details

References

Community reviews

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