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NVD / CVE Program· CNA Patchstack

CVE-2023-38000: Auth. Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WordPress core and Gutenberg plugin via Navigation Links Block

MediumCVSS 5.4 · v3.1—No exploit Fix available

Noroxi assessment

Priority: Monitor (action score 21/100)

  • The sources we track (CISA KEV, Exploit-DB, Metasploit, Nuclei, GitHub) show no public exploit code or exploitation in the wild.
  • Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 0.87% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 59.3% of all records.
  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. A low-privileged account is enough. A user must open a link or visit a page. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
  • Fixed version: Gutenberg Team Gutenberg 16.8.1; WordPress.org WordPress 5.9.8, 6.0.6, 6.1.4.

Low priority for now. Upgrade to Gutenberg Team Gutenberg 16.8.1; WordPress.org WordPress 5.9.8, 6.0.6, 6.1.4 or later.

Generated automatically from the record's data: CVSS (NVD and CNA), CISA KEV and SSVC, FIRST EPSS, exploit sources, fixed versions. How we calculate it

Primary sources: NVD · CVE.org · FIRST EPSS

Auth. Stored (contributor+) Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in WordPress core 6.3 through 6.3.1, from 6.2 through 6.2.2, from 6.1 through 6.1.3, from 6.0 through 6.0.5, from 5.9 through 5.9.7 and Gutenberg plugin <= 16.8.0 versions.

Published
Oct 13, 2023
Updated
Jun 17, 2026
EPSS
0.8% · 59th percentile

Report tools

JSON

Action score

21

Monitor

Low priority for now.

CVSS
21 / 40 · 5.4 / 10
CISA KEV
0 / 30 · Not listed
EPSS
0 / 30 · 0.8%

CNA vs NVD score

NVD
5.4
CNA · Patchstack
6.5
1.1 point gap

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

The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.

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When you'll hear from us

  • when it enters CISA KEV
  • when exploit code appears or is weaponized
  • when the record is updated (including a fixed version)
  • when EPSS rises 20 points in a week

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits every 10 minutes on paid plans, on the hour on the free plan.

Your free account also gets you

  • Stack alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools, at most 30 a day (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
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If any of these changes, we'll tell you in the daily email digest.
Is your version affected? Check it

Noroxi analysis

What does it mean in your environment?

The assessment above is generated automatically from the record's data; it doesn't know your environment. Our team verifies on your systems whether this vulnerability is actually exploitable and which mitigation is enough.

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Affected systems

Is your version affected?

Pick the product and type the version you run. It's compared with this record's version ranges in your browser; the version isn't sent anywhere.

VendorProduct
wordpresswordpress
wordpressgutenberg

Using wordpress? Add it to your stack and be the first to know about CVEs like this one. (WordPress)

Watch new CVEs for wordpress

When you'll hear from us

  • when a new CVE affecting this product is published
  • when a record in your stack enters KEV or is weaponized

One daily email digest (06:00 UTC); connect a webhook for KEV listings and weaponized exploits every 10 minutes on paid plans, on the hour on the free plan.

Your free account also gets you

  • Stack alerts: add the products and versions you run, get the new CVEs that affect them
  • Uptime monitoring: 1 site, instant email when it goes down
  • Add your domain: subdomains and takeover risk scanned every week (1 domain)
  • 10 scans an hour on the security tools, at most 30 a day (3 a day without an account), an API key and MCP
  • All your scans in one panel: findings, what changed in the last scan, a report per domain or per client (PDF, share link)
All free tools

Sign up with email · Have an account? Sign in

Free account, no card. Unfollow any time.

Don't want an account? Get "Exploited this week" by email every Monday

Affected versions

NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.

  • wordpress wordpress5.9 and later · up to 5.9.7 inclusive
  • wordpress wordpress6.0 and later · up to 6.0.5 inclusive
  • wordpress wordpress6.1 and later · up to 6.1.3 inclusive
  • wordpress wordpress6.2 and later · up to 6.2.2 inclusive
  • wordpress wordpress6.3 and later · up to 6.3.1 inclusive

Versions reported by the vendor

Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Patchstack). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.

  • Gutenberg Team Gutenberg

    • n/a and later · up to and including 16.8.0affectedfixed in 16.8.1

  • WordPress.org WordPress

    • 6.3 and later · up to and including 6.3.1affectedfixed in 6.3.2
    • 6.2 and later · up to and including 6.2.2affectedfixed in 6.2.3
    • 6.1 and later · up to and including 6.1.3affectedfixed in 6.1.4
    • 6.0 and later · up to and including 6.0.5affectedfixed in 6.0.6
    • 5.9 and later · up to and including 5.9.7affectedfixed in 5.9.8

Package-level exposure

OSV and GitHub Advisory data: ecosystem, package and range. SBOM matching uses this table.

EcosystemPackageAffected rangeFix
Debian:12wordpressbefore 6.1.6+dfsg1-0+deb12u16.1.6+dfsg1-0+deb12u1
Debian:13wordpressbefore 6.3.2+dfsg1-16.3.2+dfsg1-1

Same product

wordpress: all records

Other highest-scoring records for the same primary product.

  • CVE-2026-87902An unauthenticated attacker can make `get_page_template()` page-template resolution include a chosen readable local `.php` file outside the…KEV
    91Now
  • CVE-2026-63030WordPress < 7.0.2 - REST API batch-route confusion and SQL injection issue leading to Remote Code ExecutionKEV
    72This week
  • CVE-2026-119977WordPress Core 4.7.0 - 7.1.3 - Unauthenticated Upgrade-Window Staged-Installer Remote Code ExecutionKEV
    62This week

Published before and after this one in the same product

  • ← EarlierCVE-2023-22622Jan 4, 2023 · WordPress through 6.1.1 depends on unpredictable client visits to cause wp-cron.php execution and the resulting security updates, and the…
    22Monitor
  • ← EarlierCVE-2023-2745May 17, 2023 · WordPress Core < 6.2.1 - Directory Traversal
    45Plan
  • Later →CVE-2023-39999Oct 13, 2023 · WordPress < 6.3.2 is vulnerable to Broken Access Control
    17Monitor

Remediation

Which version to upgrade to

Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.

Product / packageFixed versionSource
Gutenberg Team Gutenberg16.8.1Vendor (CNA)
WordPress.org WordPress5.9.8Vendor (CNA)
WordPress.org WordPress6.0.6Vendor (CNA)
WordPress.org WordPress6.1.4Vendor (CNA)
WordPress.org WordPress6.2.3Vendor (CNA)
WordPress.org WordPress6.3.2Vendor (CNA)
debian:wordpress6.1.6+dfsg1-0+deb12u1 · Debian:12Package registry (OSV)

Exploit status

No known public exploit

No public exploit has been observed yet. That doesn't mean you're safe, only that the bar is a little higher.

Research context

For pentesters and researchers: attack profile, score disagreement, timeline, patch commits, credits, variant and chain candidates, bug bounty scope. All derived from existing data; no exploit code.

Timeline

From publication to today: proof of concept, Metasploit module, CISA KEV and fix record. Dates are as reported by the sources.

No dated events beyond publication.

No history yet (it accumulates with the daily EPSS job).

Patch and commit links

Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.

No commit or PR link among the references.

Credits

All researchers

Finders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.

Variant candidates

Same product, same weakness class, within 18 months. If the patch missed the root cause, the sibling bug is here.

No nightly-computed relations.

Chain candidates

An authentication bypass and a privilege-requiring bug in the same product, published close together: combined they may become an unauthenticated path.

—

Bug bounty scope

The product’s vendor appears in a public program. Matched by name; verify the scope text in the program.

Technical details

Attack conditions

  • Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
  • A low-privileged account is enough.
  • A user must open a link or visit a page.
  • No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.

If successful

Confidentiality
low · data can be read
Integrity
low · data or configuration can be modified
Availability
none

Impact can extend beyond the vulnerable component (scope changes).

Attack vector
Network
Attack complexity
Low
Privileges required
Low
User interaction
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality impact
Low
Integrity impact
Low
Availability impact
None

Weakness class (CWE)

CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

CVSS vector

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

nvd-primary

Root cause

User content is inserted into the page as HTML. The browser interprets the content as code rather than data.

The bug in code

The whole CWE-79 class

A representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.

Vulnerable

ts
commentEl.innerHTML = comment.body;

Fixed

ts
commentEl.textContent = comment.body;

Attack context

MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.

ATT&CK techniques

—

Change log

  1. Fix✗ → ✓

For records you follow, these changes also arrive as notifications. →

References

Show all references (1 more)

Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.

All records