# CVE-2023-30869: WordPress Easy Digital Downloads Plugin 3.1-3.1.1.4.1 is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation

> Unauthenticated attackers can escalate privileges in the Easy Digital Downloads WordPress plugin due to improper authentication.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 2 May 2023
- **Updated:** 28 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-49r3-jh88-8r77

## What is CVE-2023-30869?

CVE-2023-30869 is a critical vulnerability in Awesomemotive Easy Digital Downloads, published on 2 May 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

Improper Authentication vulnerability in Easy Digital Downloads plugin allows unauth. Privilege Escalation. This issue affects Easy Digital Downloads: from 3.1 through 3.1.1.4.1.

Weakness: CWE-287 (Improper Authentication)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-30869?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Awesomemotive Easy Digital Downloads.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-30869?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-30869 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-30869 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-30869 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Easy Digital Downloads - Privilege Escalation (nuclei): http/cves/2023/CVE-2023-30869.yaml

## Other vulnerabilities in Awesomemotive Easy Digital Downloads

- [CVE-2022-3600](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3600/): Easy Digital Downloads < 3.1.0.2 - Unauthenticated CSV Injection (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2015-9324](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2015-9324/): SQL injection in n/a (critical 9.8)
- [CVE-2024-5057](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-5057/): WordPress Easy Digital Downloads plugin <= 3.2.12 - SQL Injection vulnerability (critical 9.3)
- [CVE-2022-2439](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-2439/): Deserialization in Easy Digital Downloads – eCommerce Payments and Subscriptions made easy (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2023-51684](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-51684/): WordPress Easy Digital Downloads Plugin <= 3.2.5 is vulnerable to Cross Site Scripting (XSS) (medium 6.5)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-30869 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-30869 is a critical vulnerability in Awesomemotive Easy Digital Downloads, published on 2 May 2023. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-30869 exists.

Affected product: Awesomemotive Easy Digital Downloads. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-30869/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-30869/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-30869
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-30869
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-30869

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-30869/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.