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Cross-site Scripting (XSS)Weakness · CWE-79

CVE-2026-13733

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-07-01
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
70/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click 7 weeks old

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Download Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'no_data_msg' Shortcode Attribute in all versions up to, and including, 3.3.60 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. 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 user accesses an injected page. Although wp_kses_post is applied to post content on save, it only strips HTML tokens and does not neutralize C-style escape sequences embedded within shortcode attribute values, meaning contributors can craft a payload that survives the kses filter and is silently reconstructed into a raw script tag at render time.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · moderate confidence

The Download Manager WordPress plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape the 'no_data_msg' shortcode attribute. Although wp_kses_post is applied during save, it only strips HTML tokens and misses C-style escape sequences (like \x3C for <), which get reconstructed into executable script tags at render time, leading to stored XSS.

MitigationImplement comprehensive input sanitization for shortcode attributes that handles C-style escape sequences, combined with proper output escaping (esc_html/esc_attr) when rendering the no_data_msg value to prevent script injection.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify Download Manager plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and confirm 'Download Manager' is active, or inspect wp-content/plugins/download-manager/ directory
    Affected if Plugin is installed and active
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    Open the main plugin file (usually download-manager.php) and locate the Version header in the plugin comments, or check in WordPress admin plugin list
    Affected if Version is unknown or falls within a vulnerable range (compare against any published advisory)
  3. Check for shortcode usage with no_data_msg
    Search WordPress database (wp_posts table) or page/post content for shortcode containing 'no_data_msg' attribute, e.g., [download_manager ... no_data_msg="..."]
    Affected if Shortcode with no_data_msg attribute is present in any post, page, or widget content
  4. Detect C-style escape sequences in no_data_msg values
    Query database for no_data_msg containing patterns like \x3C, \x3E, \x3D, or other \xNN hex sequences: SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%no_data_msg%\x%'
    Affected if C-style escape sequences (\xNN) are found in any no_data_msg attribute value
  5. Verify output rendering context
    Examine plugin source code (shortcode handler function) to confirm no_data_msg is output without proper escaping (esc_html/esc_attr) at render time
    Affected if Plugin renders no_data_msg without escaping functions, allowing reconstructed HTML/script tags

User is affected if Download Manager plugin is installed AND any shortcode uses no_data_msg with C-style escape sequences that get reconstructed into executable HTML/script at render time.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Implement comprehensive input sanitization for shortcode attributes that handles C-style escape sequences, combined with proper output escaping (esc_html/esc_attr) when rendering the no_data_msg value to prevent script injection.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Download Manager plugin version 3.3.61 or later

  1. 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard with an account having contributor-level or higher access
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate the 'Download Manager' plugin in the plugin list
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
  5. 5. After updating, verify the plugin is running version 3.3.61 or later
  6. 6. If no update appears in WordPress, manually download the latest version from the WordPress plugin repository and upload via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  7. 7. Test that the shortcode functionality works correctly after the update

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
14.0 hours of engineering $2,490
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-13733 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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What this is

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What belongs here
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  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
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