CVE-2023-40680 MEDIUM

CVE-2023-40680: WordPress Yoast SEO Plugin <= 21.0 is vulnerable to Cross Site Scripting (XSS)

Vendor Team Yoast

Product Yoast SEO

Weakness CWE-79 · XSS

Published November 30, 2023

Last update April 28, 2026

View on NVD All CVEs

CVSS base score

5.9/10

Attack vector Network

Attack complexity Low

Privileges required High

User interaction Required

Confidentiality Low

Integrity Low

CVSS vector

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

What the vulnerability does

01Description

Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Team Yoast Yoast SEO allows Stored XSS.This issue affects Yoast SEO: from n/a through 21.0.

Explanation of Vulnerability in Simple Terms

02Summary

Yoast SEO versions up to 21.0 contain a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability that allows high-privilege users to inject malicious scripts. An attacker with admin or editor access can craft input that executes JavaScript in other users' browsers when they view affected pages. The vulnerability requires user interaction and affects the integrity and confidentiality of site data.

What an attacker can do

03Attacker Capabilities

Inject JavaScript that runs in other users' browsers to steal data or perform actions on their behalf.

Potential impact on your site

04Site Impact

A compromised admin or editor account can inject scripts affecting other users' sessions and data without code review.

Conditions required to exploit

05Prerequisites

Attacker must have high-level site access (admin/editor role) and the victim must view a page containing the malicious input.

Key dates

06Disclosure timeline

November 30, 2023 CVE published

April 28, 2026 Record updated

External resources

07References

NVD — National Vulnerability Database https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-40680 CWE — Common Weakness Enumeration https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/79.html AskarLabs — CWE-79 write-up Cross-Site Scripting

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