Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessRegister or use Subscriber account
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DeliverySubmit XSS payload into CMB2 field
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ExploitPayload stored without sanitization
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ExecutionPrivileged user views injected content
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PersistScript executes in victim browser session
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ImpactSession hijack or admin-context actions
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 | Requires an authenticated account with at least Subscriber privileges (PR:L), so the target site must permit that role - most impactful where open self-registration is enabled. Exploitation also requires victim user interaction (UI:R): a privileged user must view the attacker-injected content for the script to execute. Limited to CMB2 versions <= 2.13.0. The impact is confined to script execution in the victim's browser/session context (scope change to the site origin), not direct server-side code execution. The specific vulnerable CMB2 field or output sink is not identified in the available data. |
| Impact | This is a stored/reflected Cross-Site Scripting flaw in CMB2, scored CVSS 3.1 6.5 (Medium) with vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L. The CVSS vector shows network attack vector and low attack complexity, but two factors materially constrain real-world risk: PR:L means the attacker must already hold at least a Subscriber-level authenticated account, and UI:R means a victim must interact (view the injected content) for the payload to fire. The scope change (S:C) reflects script executing in the victim's browser session against the WordPress admin/site origin, but the impact metrics are only Low across confidentiality, integrity, and availability - consistent with typical session-context XSS rather than server compromise. No EPSS score, KEV listing, POC, or SSVC data was supplied, and none of these signals indicate elevated exploitation likelihood. Net assessment: a genuine but low-to-medium priority vulnerability - patch in normal cadence. The Subscriber precondition plus required user interaction make mass, unauthenticated exploitation unlikely; this favors targeted abuse on sites that permit self-registration. The description is sparse and names no specific parameter, field, or sink, so the exact injection point cannot be confirmed from the provided data. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | On a WordPress site running CMB2 <= 2.13.0 that allows open user registration, an attacker registers a low-privilege Subscriber account and submits a payload into a CMB2-rendered field that is stored and later rendered without proper output encoding. When an administrator or other user views that content, the injected JavaScript executes in their browser session (scope change), enabling session/cookie theft or actions in the victim's authenticated context. No public exploit code was identified at time of analysis. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Sep 30, 2026
Cross-site scripting in the CMB2 WordPress plugin affects all versions up to and including 2.13.0, allowing an attacker with only Subscriber-level access to inject script that executes inside a privileged user's browser session. Successful exploitation requires the target site to permit low-privilege accounts (most impactful where open self-registration is enabled) and requires a victim to view the injected content, matching the assessed vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L (6.5 Medium); because the scope changes, injected script runs in the context of the site origin rather than a sandboxed component. No public exploit code or confirmed active exploitation was identified at time of analysis, and the impact is limited to browser-side script execution rather than server-side code execution.
RemediationAI
No vendor-released patch is identified in the provided data, so the first action is to confirm the current fixed version directly from the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/wordpress/plugin/cmb2/vulnerability/wordpress-cmb2-plugin-2-13-0-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve and apply the corresponding CMB2 update as soon as it is confirmed; do not assume that upgrading to 2.13.0 resolves the issue, since that version is explicitly within the affected range. Because CMB2 is frequently bundled inside themes and other plugins, inventory every component that embeds the library and update those parent components rather than relying on the standalone plugin entry in the WordPress admin. If no fixed build is available, the highest-value compensating control is to remove the attacker foothold by disabling open user self-registration and stripping unnecessary Subscriber accounts, accepting the trade-off that legitimate low-privilege sign-ups will need manual provisioning; additionally, use a WordPress security plugin or server-level rules to restrict which roles can submit or edit content that flows into CMB2 fields, and deploy a Content Security Policy that disallows inline script on administrative and front-end templates (noting that strict CSP can break themes and plugins that rely on inline JavaScript and requires testing). If CMB2 is not actively used by any installed theme or plugin, deactivate and delete it to eliminate the attack surface entirely. Finally, add HTML output escaping to custom integrations that render CMB2 field values, understanding that this requires developer effort and cannot be applied retroactively to unmaintained third-party code.
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
CMB2 is a developer-oriented library distributed as a WordPress plugin that provides an API for registering custom metaboxes, fields, and repeatable field groups used by themes and other plugins. The flaw is a CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation) issue in which attacker-supplied content tied to a CMB2 field or its rendered output is not adequately escaped before being written into an HTML page. The CVSS vector's scope-change component (S:C) indicates that the injected content breaks out of its intended rendering context and executes with the privileges of the surrounding site origin, which is why the confidentiality, integrity, and availability impacts are rated Low rather than None despite the non-persistent server-side impact. The input data records the affected CPE as cpe:2.3:a:justin_sternberg:cmb2:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* (a wildcard bound on the affected range) and does not identify the specific vulnerable CMB2 field type or output sink, so defenders should treat any plugin, theme, or custom integration that renders CMB2 field values without escaping as potentially in scope. The vulnerability was reported through the Patchstack vulnerability database and is tracked against the WordPress plugin ecosystem, which means the exposure surface is transitive: sites are affected whenever a bundled or dependent component loads a vulnerable CMB2 copy, not only when CMB2 is installed and activated directly.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
Network XSS requiring a Subscriber account (PR:L) and victim interaction (UI:R); script runs cross-context (S:C) with limited C/I/A impact, matching the reported vector.
Primary rating from Vendor (Patchstack).
CVSS VectorVendor: Patchstack
DescriptionCVE.org
Subscriber Cross Site Scripting (XSS) in CMB2 <= 2.13.0 versions.
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
Cross-Site Scripting occurs when an application accepts untrusted data and sends it to a web browser without proper validation or encoding.
Sites running the CMB2 WordPress plugin before 2.13.0 can have arbitrary WordPress options created or overwritten by any
Stored cross-site scripting in the CMB2 WordPress plugin, affecting versions through 2.13.1, lets unauthenticated attack
Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) in the CMB2 WordPress library (all versions up to and including 2.13.0) allows unauthe
EUVD-2026-89920
GHSA-xh86-5mh6-mjrq
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
Exploit-DB