Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessObtain Contributor-level account on target
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DeliverySet malicious script as display name
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ExploitAdmin opens Quick Edit screen
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ExecutionStored XSS executes in admin session
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ImpactHijack privileges or inject rogue admin
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Output encoding, context-aware escaping
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Initial Access, Execution The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires an authenticated account with Contributor-level privileges or higher (PR:L), and the attacker-controlled user DISPLAY NAME is the injection vector, surfaced through the Quick Edit feature on WordPress administrative screens. The payload only executes when a higher-privileged user (Editor/Administrator) subsequently views the affected admin screen. A critical limiting factor explicitly stated by the vendor: the issue 'only affects sites with a large number of users,' which corresponds to the AC:H rating - small single- or few-author sites are effectively not exploitable. This confines real risk to large multi-user WordPress deployments (membership sites, large editorial teams, platforms with open or Contributor-level registration). All versions up to and including 7.0.2 are affected; 7.0.3 remediates it. |
| Impact | This is a genuine-but-low-priority vulnerability, not a high-CVSS-with-hidden-risk case - the inputs largely agree on modest real-world risk. The CVSS 3.1 base score is only 4.9 (Medium), and the vector itself tempers the network reachability: AV:N but AC:H and PR:L mean an attacker must already hold a Contributor-level (or higher) account AND the attack conditions must be favorable. The description's qualifier that the issue 'only affects sites with a large number of users' aligns with and justifies the AC:H (High attack complexity) rating. S:C (scope change) and the C:L/I:L impacts reflect that injected script runs in a higher-privileged admin's authenticated session rather than directly compromising the server. No EPSS score was supplied, so exploitation probability cannot be quantified. The vulnerability is NOT in CISA KEV and no public exploit code was provided in the sources, so there is no evidence of active exploitation or weaponization. The practical risk is therefore bounded by two gates: attacker needs an authenticated Contributor account, and the target site must have many users for the condition to trigger. For most defenders this is a routine patch-in-next-cycle item; it rises in priority only for multi-author/multi-user WordPress sites (large publishing platforms, membership sites) that grant Contributor accounts to semi-trusted or self-registered users. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | On a large multi-author WordPress site, an attacker who holds (or self-registers for) a Contributor-level account sets a malicious display name containing a script payload. When an Editor or Administrator later opens an admin screen that renders that display name through the Quick Edit interface, the insufficiently escaped name executes JavaScript in the admin's authenticated session, enabling actions such as creating a rogue admin or stealing session context. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis, and the high attack complexity means the payload only reliably surfaces on sites with a large number of users. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Oct 22, 2026
Stored cross-site scripting in WordPress Core through 7.0.2 lets an authenticated user with Contributor-level access or higher save a malicious display name that is insufficiently escaped when rendered in the Quick Edit interface, so the script fires when an Editor or Administrator later opens the affected administrative screen. The vendor explicitly limits real-world exposure to installations with a large number of users, which is reflected in the high attack-complexity rating and confines meaningful risk to large multi-author, membership, or open-registration sites. No public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation was identified at time of analysis, and the issue is remediated in WordPress 7.0.3.
RemediationAI
Vendor-released patch: upgrade to WordPress Core 7.0.3, which contains the escaping fix in changeset 63061 (https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/63061); the release announcement is at https://wordpress.org/news/2026/08/wordpress-7-0-3-release/ and the vulnerability record at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/92babbbf-74bd-474f-9057-c5022a7d64c7?source=cve. Where immediate upgrading is not possible, several compensating controls reduce exposure, each with trade-offs: audit and sanitize existing user display names (a search for angle brackets or script fragments in wp_users.display_name) to remove already-stored payloads, though this is a point-in-time clean-up and does not prevent re-injection; tighten registration so Contributor-level accounts are not self-service and instead require manual approval, which removes the easy injection path but adds administrative overhead for legitimate contributors; and restrict or temporarily disable the Quick Edit row action on user list tables via an admin capability or plugin, which stops the payload from rendering in that context but degrades editorial workflow for other content types. Note that WordPress does not ship a built-in switch to disable Quick Edit only for users, so any such workaround requires custom code and must be re-validated after the upgrade. Because exploitation requires a higher-privileged user to open a poisoned admin screen, monitoring administrator sessions for unexpected script behavior or injected markup is a useful detective measure, but it is not a substitute for patching.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
The root cause is CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation), specifically inadequate output escaping of the user display name field when it is emitted into the Quick Edit inline-editing markup on WordPress administrative list tables. Because display names are stored persistently in the user record and re-rendered on every admin screen load that includes the Quick Edit row, the payload persists until the name is corrected or the account removed - classic stored XSS rather than reflected. The CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N vector describes a remotely reachable attack (AV:N) that requires a low-privileged authenticated account (PR:L) and no victim interaction beyond loading the page (UI:N); the scope change (S:C) reflects that code executes in the security context of the higher-privileged administrative user rather than the injecting Contributor, while impact is bounded to low confidentiality and integrity with no availability effect (C:L/I:L/A:N). The AC:H component maps directly to the vendor's statement that exploitation is only practical on sites with a large number of users, since the attack depends on a high-privileged user actually browsing a listing that contains the poisoned account. The affected package is tracked generically as cpe:2.3:a:wordpress_foundation:wordpress:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Network-reachable but needs a Contributor account (PR:L) and only triggers on large-user sites plus admin viewing (AC:H); stored XSS crosses into the admin's session (S:C) with limited C/I impact.
Primary rating from Vendor (Wordfence).
CVSS VectorVendor: Wordfence
DescriptionCVE.org
WordPress Core is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Quick Edit in all versions up to, and including, 7.0.2 due to insufficient escaping of user display names. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a higher privileged user accesses the affected administrative screens. This issue only affects sites with a large number of users.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
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EUVD-2026-108007
GHSA-v6pr-7m68-qg32
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB