# CVE-2023-6520: WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress <= 2.5.0 - Cross-Site Request Forgery

> Unauthenticated attackers can send arbitrary emails to users via CSRF due to missing nonce validation in the WP 2FA plugin.

- **Severity:** Medium 4.3 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** A user has to click or open something
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 11 Jan 2024
- **Updated:** 8 Apr 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-r4h6-6pm7-9q3g

## What is CVE-2023-6520?

CVE-2023-6520 is a medium-severity vulnerability in melapress WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress, published on 11 Jan 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.

### Official description

The WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Cross-Site Request Forgery in all versions up to, and including, 2.5.0. This is due to missing or incorrect nonce validation on the send_backup_codes_email function. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to send emails with arbitrary content to registered users via a forged request granted they can trick a site administrator or other registered user into performing an action such as clicking on a link. While a nonce check is present, it is only executed if a nonce is set. By omitting a nonce from the request, the check can be bypassed.

Weakness: CWE-352 (Cross-Site Request Forgery)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2023-6520?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Melapress Wp 2fa.

## How do I fix CVE-2023-6520?

No fix has been published for CVE-2023-6520 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2023-6520 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-6520 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Other vulnerabilities in melapress WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress

- [CVE-2024-32568](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-32568/): WordPress WP 2FA plugin <= 2.6.2 - Reflected Cross Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability (high 7.1)
- [CVE-2022-44587](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-44587/): WordPress WP 2FA plugin <= 2.6.3 - Sensitive Data Exposure via Log File vulnerability (medium 5.3)
- [CVE-2022-44595](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-44595/): WordPress WP2FA plugin <= 2.2.0 - Broken Authentication vulnerability (medium 5.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2023-6520 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2023-6520 is a medium-severity vulnerability in melapress WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress, published on 11 Jan 2024. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, and only if a user opens a file or follows a link.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2023-6520 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: melapress WP 2FA – Two-factor authentication for WordPress. 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-2023-6520/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-6520/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-6520
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-6520
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2023-6520

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-6520/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.