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

CVE-2026-2505

MEDIUM · 5.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
58/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable

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 Categories Images plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting in versions up to, and including, 3.3.1, via the 'z_taxonomy_image' shortcode. This is due to the shortcode rendering path passing attacker-controlled class input into a fallback image builder that concatenates HTML attributes without proper escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts that execute when users interact with the injected frontend page via the 'class' shortcode attribute.

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 Categories Images WordPress plugin fails to sanitize the 'class' attribute in the z_taxonomy_image shortcode before outputting it in HTML. Attackers with Contributor-level permissions can embed malicious JavaScript in the class parameter that executes when frontend users view pages containing the shortcode.

MitigationUpdate to the latest version of Categories Images plugin which properly escapes the class attribute using esc_attr() or equivalent escaping functions. If no update is available, manually escape the class parameter in the shortcode handler before HTML concatenation.

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
Required
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/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. Check if Categories Images plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Categories Images'. Or check the plugin file at wp-content/plugins/categories-images/readme.txt for the version number.
    Affected if The Categories Images plugin is installed and active on the WordPress site.
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    Open the plugin's main PHP file (usually categories-images.php) or readme.txt and locate the version number in the header.
    Affected if The version is at or below the vulnerable version (before the fix was released that added esc_attr() escaping).
  3. Check for z_taxonomy_image shortcode usage
    Search the WordPress database or site content for instances of the shortcode: look for [z_taxonomy_image] in posts, pages, widgets, or theme files. Use grep on the wp_posts table or a plugin like Search Regex.
    Affected if The z_taxonomy_image shortcode is present in any published content on the site.
  4. Inspect shortcode class parameters for unsanitized content
    Examine any [z_taxonomy_image] shortcode instances found. Look at the class="..." attribute within the shortcode. Manually inspect or search for patterns like 'script', 'javascript:', 'onerror=', 'onload=' or other JavaScript event handlers.
    Affected if The class parameter contains raw, unescaped user input that could include HTML or JavaScript code.
  5. Verify user role permissions exist for exploitation
    Go to Users > All Users in WordPress admin. Check if any users have the 'Contributor' role or higher (Author, Editor, Administrator).
    Affected if At least one user with Contributor-level or higher permissions exists who could potentially inject the malicious shortcode.

A site is affected if the Categories Images plugin is installed with the vulnerable shortcode in use and users with Contributor+ permissions exist, allowing injection of unsanitized class attributes into the z_taxonomy_image shortcode output.

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 to the latest version of Categories Images plugin which properly escapes the class attribute using esc_attr() or equivalent escaping functions. If no update is available, manually escape the class parameter in the shortcode handler before HTML concatenation.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Latest version of Categories Images plugin (version 3.3.2 or higher)

  1. 1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate the Categories Images plugin
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
  5. 5. Alternatively, download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/categories-images/ and upload it via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
  6. 6. After updating, verify the plugin is functioning correctly on the site

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
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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-2026-2505 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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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