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

CVE-2026-2501

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-03-21
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

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 Ed's Social Share plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's `social_share` shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 2.0. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes. 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.

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 Ed's Social Share WordPress plugin fails to sanitize input and escape output in its social_share shortcode, allowing authenticated users with contributor-level access or higher to inject arbitrary JavaScript through shortcode attributes. This stored XSS executes whenever users access pages containing the malicious shortcode.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to a patched version once released; in the interim, restrict shortcode usage permissions to administrators only and audit existing pages for injected shortcode content.

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 Ed's Social Share plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Ed's Social Share' in the list. Note whether it is activated.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and activated.
  2. Check plugin version
    Click on the plugin name in the plugins list to view version details. Compare the installed version against any known affected version range if publicly disclosed.
    Affected if Plugin version falls within an affected range (if known).
  3. Identify pages using the vulnerable shortcode
    Search your WordPress database or content for the shortcode '[social_share' by checking posts, pages, and custom post types in wp_posts table. This can be done via WordPress admin search or directly querying: SELECT ID, post_title FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[social_share%';
    Affected if Pages or posts contain the social_share shortcode.
  4. Inspect shortcode attributes for injection
    Review the content of pages containing the shortcode. Examine the shortcode attributes (such as text, title, or platform parameters) for any unusual characters like <script>, javascript:, onload, or encoded payloads.
    Affected if Shortcode attributes contain unsanitized user-supplied values that could execute as JavaScript.
  5. Check for contributor-level or higher users
    In WordPress admin, go to Users and review roles. Contributors, Authors, Editors, and Administrators all have access that meets or exceeds the contributor-level required to exploit this flaw.
    Affected if Any user account with contributor-level access or higher exists on the site.

A site is affected if Ed's Social Share plugin is active, pages contain the social_share shortcode, and users with contributor-level or higher access exist who could inject malicious shortcode attributes.

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 plugin to a patched version once released; in the interim, restrict shortcode usage permissions to administrators only and audit existing pages for injected shortcode content.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version after 2.0 (check wordpress.org/plugins/eds-social-share for the current stable release)

  1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate 'Ed's Social Share' in the plugin list
  4. Check if an update is available for the plugin
  5. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
  6. If no update shows, visit the plugin's page at wordpress.org/plugins/eds-social-share and manually download the latest version
  7. Upload and install the latest version of the plugin

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
10.0 hours of engineering $1,780
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An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,848.

Scan for this in your stack

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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-2026-2501 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