CVE-2023-0502Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Plugin activation via missing nonce validation

Published Mar 27, 2023 · Updated Feb 19, 2025

CSRF in WP News 1.1.9 and earlier allows remote attackers to activate installed plugins by inducing an administrator to submit a forged request. The ht-magazine_ajax_plugin_activation action accepts an attacker-chosen plugin location and activates it without verifying a WordPress nonce. An administrator must interact with attacker-controlled content while logged in, and only plugins already present on the site can be activated.

CVSS severity6.5
Medium
EPSS probability0.33%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

CSRF in WP News 1.1.9 and earlier allows remote attackers to activate installed plugins by inducing an administrator to submit a forged request. The ht-magazine_ajax_plugin_activation action accepts an attacker-chosen plugin location and activates it without verifying a WordPress nonce. An administrator must interact with attacker-controlled content while logged in, and only plugins already present on the site can be activated.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-0502
Published
Mar 27, 2023
Updated
Feb 19, 2025
Vendor
HT Plugins
Product
WP News
Classifications
CWE-352, T1204.001
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Mar 27, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Feb 19, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.

Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <=1.1.9

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

HT Plugins · WP Newsversion=0 <=1.1.9

Published CVSS scores

4.3WordfenceCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N
6.5CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N
6.5NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-352Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF)
T1204.001Malicious Link

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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