CVE-2023-23882 is a Missing Authorization vulnerability (CWE-862) identified in the WordPress plugin Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder – Lite, developed by Brainstorm Force. This vulnerability affects versions up to 1.5.5. Missing Authorization means that certain actions or resources within the plugin can be accessed or manipulated without proper permission checks, potentially allowing users with limited privileges to perform unauthorized operations. According to the CVSS 3.1 vector (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N) and a score of 4.3 (medium severity), the vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network with low attack complexity and requires the attacker to have some level of privileges (PR:L), but no user interaction is needed. The impact is limited to integrity loss, with no confidentiality or availability impact. No known exploits are currently reported in the wild, and no patches or fixes have been linked yet. The vulnerability could allow an authenticated low-privilege user to perform unauthorized changes or actions within the plugin, potentially leading to unauthorized content modifications or configuration changes that could degrade the integrity of the affected website or service. Since the plugin is a popular addon for Beaver Builder, a widely used WordPress page builder, this vulnerability could affect many WordPress sites using this plugin, especially those that allow multiple user roles with varying privileges.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2023-23882 depends largely on their use of WordPress sites with the Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder – Lite plugin. Organizations that rely on WordPress for public-facing websites, intranets, or internal portals and have multiple user roles with limited privileges could be at risk. An attacker with low-level authenticated access (e.g., a contributor or subscriber role) could exploit this vulnerability to perform unauthorized actions that compromise the integrity of website content or configurations. This could lead to misinformation, defacement, or unauthorized changes that damage organizational reputation or disrupt business operations. While the vulnerability does not directly impact confidentiality or availability, integrity issues can still have significant operational and reputational consequences. Additionally, if exploited in combination with other vulnerabilities, it could facilitate further attacks. The absence of known exploits in the wild reduces immediate risk, but organizations should not be complacent given the plugin's popularity and the ease of exploitation.

European organizations should take the following specific mitigation steps: 1) Inventory all WordPress sites and identify those using Ultimate Addons for Beaver Builder – Lite plugin, especially versions up to 1.5.5. 2) Restrict user roles and permissions to the minimum necessary, limiting the number of users with low-level privileges that could exploit this vulnerability. 3) Monitor plugin vendor announcements and security advisories closely for patches or updates addressing CVE-2023-23882 and apply them promptly once available. 4) Implement web application firewalls (WAFs) with custom rules to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the plugin’s endpoints or functionality. 5) Conduct regular security audits and penetration tests focusing on WordPress plugins and user privilege escalation paths. 6) Educate administrators and content managers about the risks of privilege misuse and ensure strong authentication and session management practices. 7) Consider temporarily disabling or removing the plugin if it is not critical to business operations until a patch is released.