CVE•Published 2023-09-13•Modified 2026-04-08•1 article on news•6 live references•NVD data

CVE-2023-4153Webmedia · Ban_users

Vulnerability data via NVD (ingested)

CVSS v3.1

8.8

HIGH

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

EPSS percentile

Exploit Prediction Scoring System · top 71% of all CVEs

Weaknesses (CWE)

CWE-266Incorrect Privilege Assignment

Description

The BAN Users plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to privilege escalation in versions up to, and including, 1.5.3 due to a missing capability check on the 'w3dev_save_ban_user_settings_callback' function. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with minimal permissions such as a subscriber, to modify the plugin settings to access the ban and unban functionality and set the role of the unbanned user.

Timeline

Published 2023-09-13

Modified 2026-04-08

External references

NVD MITRE Exploit-DB GitHub PoC trickest/cve VulnCheck

Search for exposed instances

Shodan + Censys queries derived from NVD's CPE data. The vuln tag catches assets Shodan has explicitly linked to this CVE; the product / banner fingerprints find exposed instances even when the vuln tag was never applied (which is common).

Shodan · vuln tag0 hosts

vuln:CVE-2023-4153

Hosts Shodan has explicitly fingerprinted as vulnerable.

Shodan · WP plugin path

http.html:"/wp-content/plugins/ban-users/"

Matches any site loading the "ban-users" plugin — doesn't rely on Shodan's vuln tag.

Shodan · product

product:"Webmedia Ban Users"

All exposed Webmedia Ban Users instances — cross-reference with the CVE's affected-version range.

Shodan · banner/body mention

http.html:"Ban Users"

HTTP body or banner mentions "Ban Users" — catches deploys Shodan didn't identify as a product.