CVE-2023-6875: POST SMTP Mailer – Email log, Delivery Failure Notifications and Best Mail SMTP for WordPress <= 2.8.7 - Authorization Bypass via type connect-app API
Noroxi assessment
Priority: This week (action score 66/100)
- A ready-made attack module is public (Metasploit, Nuclei); exploiting it takes no special expertise.
- Public proof-of-concept code exists (GitHub); there is no record of exploitation in the wild.
- Probability of exploitation in the next 30 days: 90.3% (FIRST EPSS); higher than 99.7% of all records.
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it. No account or password is required. No user action is required. No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
- According to CISA the attack is automatable: targets can be found by mass scanning.
- No fixed version is recorded, but the references include a patch (commit or PR) link.
- Mentioned 1 time in Turkish national cyber security advisories (siberguvenlik.gov.tr).
Don’t wait for the next maintenance window. See the fix and affected versions sections below.
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
The POST SMTP Mailer – Email log, Delivery Failure Notifications and Best Mail SMTP for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized access of data and modification of data due to a type juggling issue on the connect-app REST endpoint in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.7. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to reset the API key used to authenticate to the mailer and view logs, including password reset emails, allowing site takeover. CVE-2023-52233 appears to be a duplicate of this issue.
- Published
- Jan 11, 2024
- Updated
- Jun 17, 2026
- EPSS
- 90.3% · 99th percentile
- CWE
- CWE-639
Report tools
Action score
66
This week
Don’t wait for the next maintenance window.
- CVSS
- 39 / 40 · 9.8 / 10
- CISA KEV
- 0 / 30 · Not listed
- EPSS
- 27 / 30 · 90.3%
CISA SSVC decision
- Exploitation
- none
- Automatable
- yes
- Technical impact
- total
Vulnrichment: CISA's decision-tree inputs.
CNA vs NVD score
- NVD
- 9.8
- CNA · Wordfence
- 9.8
- agree
The score given by the assigning authority versus NVD’s independent score. A gap means the severity is contested.
Is Post SMTP – Complete Email Delivery and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App on your site?
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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.
We use this product, ask for helpAffected 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.
| Vendor | Product | CPE |
|---|---|---|
| wpexperts | post smtp | cpe:2.3:a:wpexperts:post_smtp |
Affected versions
NVD version ranges (for catalog products). Add the product to your stack with a version and matching uses these.
- wpexperts post smtpup to 2.8.7 inclusive
Versions reported by the vendor
Affected version ranges reported by the assigning authority (Wordfence). Independent of NVD's CPE analysis and usually ahead of it.
saadiqbal Post SMTP – Complete Email Deliverability and SMTP Solution with Email Logs, Alerts, Backup SMTP & Mobile App
- up to and including 2.8.7affected · semver
Same product
wpexperts: all recordsOther highest-scoring records for the same primary product.
- CVE-2023-52233WordPress POST SMTP Mailer plugin <= 2.8.6 - Broken Access Control on API vulnerability39Monitor
- CVE-2025-22800WordPress Post SMTP plugin <= 2.9.11 - Broken Access Control vulnerability35Monitor
- CVE-2023-3179POST SMTP Mailer < 2.5.7 - Account Takeover via CSRF35Monitor
Published before and after this one in the same product
- ← EarlierCVE-2023-7027Jan 3, 2024 · POST SMTP Mailer – Email log, Delivery Failure Notifications and Best Mail SMTP for WordPress <= 2.8.7 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via device21Monitor
- ← EarlierCVE-2023-6621Jan 3, 2024 · Post SMTP < 2.8.7 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting24Monitor
- Later →CVE-2023-6620Jan 15, 2024 · Post SMTP < 2.8.7 - Admin+ SQL Injection32Monitor
Remediation
Which version to upgrade to
Fix versions compiled from the vendor, package registries and Microsoft. Verify the vendor's note before upgrading.
No fix version is recorded for this entry. Check the references for vendor advisories.
Exploit status
Weaponized
A ready exploit tool or active in-the-wild use is known for this vulnerability. This should be your top priority.
Evidence
- Metasploit module ×1
- Nuclei detection template ×1
- Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub ×3
Noroxi does not host or link to exploit code. Metasploit module names and Nuclei template ids are shown (names, not code); Exploit-DB entries and PoC repositories are given as counts only.
| Source | Kind | Date |
|---|---|---|
| Nuclei detection template | Nuclei template CVE-2023-6875 | — |
| Metasploit module | auxiliary/admin/http/wp_post_smtp_acct_takeoverWordpress POST SMTP Account Takeoverauxiliary | 2024-01-10 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:25 | 2024-01-13 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:6 | 2024-01-27 |
| Proof-of-concept repository on GitHub | stars:1 | 2024-02-05 |
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.
- Metasploit-1 d
- Published
- First PoC+2 d
- TodayOct 26, 2026+1019 d
FIRST EPSS daily score; only changes of 0.01 or more are recorded (step chart).
Patch and commit links
Commit, PR and diff links among the references. A starting point for patch-diffing and variant hunting; fixes, not exploits.
Credits
All researchersFinders, reporters and analysts named in the CNA record. Click a name for that researcher’s other records.
- Ulyses Saichafinder
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
No known public program.
Source: bounty-targets-data (public HackerOne, Bugcrowd, Intigriti, YesWeHack listings).
National notice (Türkiye Cybersecurity Directorate / USOM)
Official security notices citing this record; remediation advice is on the agency's page.
- TR-24-0025 · Jan 12, 2024(WordPress Eklenti Zafiyeti)
Technical details
Attack conditions
- Anyone who can reach it over the internet can trigger it.
- No account or password is required.
- No user action is required.
- No special conditions are required; it is repeatable.
If successful
- Confidentiality
- high · data can be read
- Integrity
- high · data or configuration can be modified
- Availability
- high · the service can be disrupted
- Attack vector
- Network
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality impact
- High
- Integrity impact
- High
- Availability impact
- High
Weakness class (CWE)
CWE-639 · Authorization Bypass Through User-Controlled KeyCVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
nvd-primary
Root cause
The endpoint fetches the record by the ID sent in the request, but never checks whether the record belongs to the requesting user.
The bug in code
The whole CWE-639 classA representative example of this vulnerability class. Not the vendor's source code; it shows the faulty pattern and its fix.
Vulnerable
const invoice = await Invoice.findById(req.params.id);
res.json(invoice);Fixed
const invoice = await Invoice.findOne({
id: req.params.id,
ownerId: req.user.id,
});
if (!invoice) return res.sendStatus(404);
res.json(invoice);Attack context
MITRE CAPEC attack patterns and ATT&CK techniques for this weakness class (CWE). A starting point for detection rules and threat hunting.
MITRE has no CAPEC/ATT&CK mapping for this CWE.
Change log
No changes recorded on tracked fields yet. Score, KEV, exploit maturity and fix status changes appear here.
References
Show all references (3 more)Show less
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3016051/post-smtp/trunk?contextall=1&old=3012318&old_path=%2Fpost-smtp%2Ftrunk
- www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e675d64c-cbb8-4f24-9b6f-2597a97b49af?source=cve
- packetstormsecurity.com/files/176525/WordPress-POST-SMTP-Mailer-2.8.7-Authorization-Bypass-Cross-Site-Scripting.html
Vendor advisories and official records. Exploit/PoC links are deliberately left out.