CVE-2023-5235Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Subscriber-to-Administrator escalation via unrestricted option import

Published Jan 8, 2024 · Updated Jun 11, 2025

Privilege escalation in Ovic Team Ovic Responsive WPBakery before 1.2.9 allows remote authenticated users to gain Administrator access. The AJAX-linked import_options() function accepts compressed, serialized option data without a capability check or option allowlist. A Subscriber account can enable registration and set the default role to Administrator, so a newly created account receives full site privileges.

CVSS severity8.8
High
EPSS probability0.56%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Privilege escalation in Ovic Team Ovic Responsive WPBakery before 1.2.9 allows remote authenticated users to gain Administrator access. The AJAX-linked import_options() function accepts compressed, serialized option data without a capability check or option allowlist. A Subscriber account can enable registration and set the default role to Administrator, so a newly created account receives full site privileges.

The record

CVE
CVE-2023-5235
Published
Jan 8, 2024
Updated
Jun 11, 2025
Vendor
Ovic Team
Product
Ovic Responsive WPBakery
Classifications
CWE-269, CWE-502, T1068
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Jan 8, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Jun 11, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

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

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <1.2.9

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Ovic Team · Ovic Responsive WPBakeryversion=0 <1.2.9

Published CVSS scores

8.8NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
8.8CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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 10, 2026Sep 16, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 16, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-269Improper Privilege Management
CWE-502Deserialization of Untrusted Data
T1068Exploitation for Privilege Escalation

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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