SQL InjectionWeakness · CWE-89

CVE-2026-16532

CRITICAL · 9.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-08-03
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click 2 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 Link Library WordPress plugin before 7.9.3 does not properly sanitise and escape a user-supplied value before using it in a SQL query, allowing unauthenticated users to perform SQL injection attacks.

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 · high confidence

The Link Library WordPress plugin before version 7.9.3 contains a critical SQL injection vulnerability. The plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape user-supplied input before using it in SQL queries, allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands and potentially exfiltrate or modify database contents.

MitigationUpdate the Link Library WordPress plugin to version 7.9.3 or later immediately. If immediate updating is not feasible, consider disabling the plugin or deploying a WAF rule to block SQL injection attack patterns.

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/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. Locate the Link Library plugin files
    Check the WordPress plugins directory at wp-content/plugins/link-library/ for the existence of the plugin folder, or look for 'Link Library' in the WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed Plugins.
    Affected if The plugin folder exists and the plugin is active in WordPress.
  2. Identify the installed version
    Open the main plugin file (typically link-library.php) and look for the version comment header, or check the readme.txt file for the 'Stable tag' entry.
    Affected if The version number returned is lower than 7.9.3 (e.g., 7.9.2, 7.9.1, 7.9.0, or earlier).
  3. Confirm plugin is accessible to visitors
    Verify the plugin is not disabled and that its functionality is exposed to unauthenticated users. Since this is a link directory plugin, public-facing pages using its shortcode or widget are typically accessible without login.
    Affected if The plugin is active and its features are accessible to non-logged-in users (the default configuration).

If the Link Library plugin is installed, active, and running at a version lower than 7.9.3 with public-facing functionality, the environment is vulnerable to unauthenticated SQL injection.

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

Update the Link Library WordPress plugin to version 7.9.3 or later immediately. If immediate updating is not feasible, consider disabling the plugin or deploying a WAF rule to block SQL injection attack patterns.

Recommended fix High confidence

Link Library plugin version 7.9.3 or later

  1. Backup the WordPress site and database before performing any updates
  2. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Find the Link Library plugin and click 'Update now' to install version 7.9.3 or later
  4. Alternatively, use WP-CLI: wp plugin update link-library
  5. Verify the installed version is 7.9.3 or later by checking the plugin version in the plugins list
  6. Test that the plugin 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
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,060
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,696.

Scan for this in your stack

Free · runs locally
dbcve dependency scanner

Check whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-16532 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.

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-2026-16532 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data