VulnerabilityPublished 11 Jan 2024Updated 3 Jun 2025

CVE-2023-7019: LightStart (WordPress plugin) · Missing Authorization

Affects LightStart (WordPress plugin)Source CVE Database V5

Not known to be exploited · CVSS 4.3 Medium.

Data as of 26 Oct 2026, 11:07 UTC

CVSS 3.1 base score

4.3Medium

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

EPSS: 0.3% chance of exploitation in 30 days – higher than 25% 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:N

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

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: None: There is no impact to availability within the impacted component.

Definitions: FIRST CVSS v3.1 specification.

Exploitation evidence

Disclosed: evidence found.
CVE published 11 Jan 2024
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 26 Oct 2026.

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 or the CVSS exploit maturity 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
themeisle LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder	Affected *	Fixed in–

AI-suggested

European organizations should immediately audit their WordPress installations to identify the presence of the LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder plugin, particularly versions up to 2.6.8. Until an official patch is released, organizations should restrict subscriber-level account creation and review existing subscriber accounts for suspicious activity. Implementing strong authentication controls such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) for all user roles, including subscribers, can reduce the risk of account compromise. Additionally, organizations should consider temporarily disabling or uninstalling the plugin if it is not critical to operations. Monitoring website content and design changes for unauthorized modifications can help detect exploitation attempts early. Web application firewalls (WAFs) can be configured to detect and block suspicious requests targeting the insert_template function if signatures are available. Finally, organizations should stay alert for updates from themeisle and apply patches promptly once released.

Description

The LightStart – Maintenance Mode, Coming Soon and Landing Page Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the insert_template function in all versions up to, and including, 2.6.8. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to change page designs.

Impact

For European organizations, especially those relying on WordPress websites with the LightStart plugin installed, this vulnerability poses a risk of unauthorized content or design modifications. While the confidentiality and availability of the site are not directly impacted, the integrity of the website's presentation can be compromised. This could lead to reputational damage, loss of customer trust, or the insertion of misleading or malicious content that could indirectly facilitate phishing or social engineering attacks. Organizations in sectors such as e-commerce, media, education, and government that use this plugin might face brand damage or customer confusion. Since the exploit requires only subscriber-level access, attackers could leverage compromised low-privilege accounts or exploit weak authentication mechanisms to gain access. The lack of user interaction needed means automated attacks could be feasible once access is obtained. The medium severity rating reflects the limited scope of impact but does not diminish the importance of addressing the issue promptly to maintain website integrity and user trust.

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

Community reviews

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Exploitation evidence

What to do

Affected software

Description

AI analysisMachine-generated, updated 4 Jul 2025, 15:27 UTC

WeaknessesCWE-862

Technical details

References

Community reviews

Related threats