# CVE-2023-5235: Ovic Responsive WPBakery < 1.2.9 - Subscriber+ Option Update

> Subscribers can update blog options and trigger object injection via unsafe deserialization in the Ovic Responsive WPBakery plugin.

- **Severity:** High 8.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Any signed-in user
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 8 Jan 2024
- **Updated:** 11 Jun 2025
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7qh3-wv79-v2r6

## What is CVE-2023-5235?

CVE-2023-5235 is a high-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Unknown Ovic Responsive WPBakery, published on 8 Jan 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Ovic Responsive WPBakery WordPress plugin before 1.2.9 does not limit which options can be updated via some of its AJAX actions, which may allow attackers with a subscriber+ account to update blog options, such as 'users_can_register' and 'default_role'. It also unserializes user input in the process, which may lead to Object Injection attacks.

Weakness: CWE-502 (Deserialization of Untrusted Data)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-5235?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Kutethemes Ovic Responsive Wpbakery.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-5235?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-5235 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-5235 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-5235 exists.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-5235 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-5235 is a high-severity unsafe deserialization vulnerability in Unknown Ovic Responsive WPBakery, published on 8 Jan 2024. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2023-5235 exists.

Affected product: Unknown Ovic Responsive WPBakery. 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-2023-5235/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-5235/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-5235
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-5235
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-5235

---
From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-5235/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.