CVE-2026-116520

Read full description

The PPWP – Password Protect Pages plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'comment / shortcode attribute desc_below_form (and placeholder as the marker-smuggling helper)' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 1.9.26 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. This is exploitable by unauthenticated attackers because WordPress's comment_content filter leaves bare shortcode text (containing no HTML tags) untouched, and the comment_whitelist setting auto-approves subsequent comments from a previously approved name and email without administrator intervention.

CVSS 7.2 (HIGH)

Attention and evidence

HYPE SCORE

0.0/10

REALITY · THREAT PRIORITY

2.5/10

General review priority; not probability

Evidence confidence: Insufficient evidence

Why this priority?

Technical severity: CVSS 7.2: +2.52
Fresh EPSS: 0.38%: +0.01

General review priority, not probability, victim count or asset-specific risk. A range covers missing CVSS/EPSS inputs within the current evidence state.

Based on public data to date.

Hype components

Headline sample (25%)

0/100

Press, 30 days (60%)

0/100

Grounded branding (15%)

0/100

HYPE TOTAL0/100

Sources and documents

No source documents yet.

Score evolution

● Hype ● Reality

Earlier evidence-support scores are retained in history; this chart shows only the current priority definition.

First record: hype 0.0 · reality 2.5 (2026-11-02 15:14). The curve appears once the score changes.

Public exploit evidence

Public exploit entries / repo candidates

Evidence context and dated references

Reality is general threat/review priority, combining observed exploitation, CVSS severity and fresh EPSS. Evidence confidence is separate. This is not calibrated risk, a victim count or an asset-specific assessment. A range reflects missing numeric inputs. Published 10 days ago. Exploitation evidence usually takes weeks to show up: a low reality score can mean there is no data yet, not that the flaw is mild.

Evidence in context

Confidence in exploitation evidence: Insufficient evidence
Priority basis: Exploitation in attacks unconfirmed; CVSS 7.2; EPSS 0.4%
Attention, last 30 days: 0 distinct story titles; 0 press documents; 0 publisher domains.
Technical potential: network access, no prior privileges, no user interaction.
Observed activity: No exploitation observation is recorded.
Known scale: Not quantified.
Evidence confidence basis: Insufficient evidence

Score evaluated: 2026-11-05 13:59:55.835577+00:00 · EPSS snapshot: 2026-11-05T12:03:04Z

Source event timeline

Published

31 Oct 2026, 05:33

Score calculated

05 Nov 2026, 13:59