CVE-2026-3997
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 · uneditedThe Text Toggle plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'title' shortcode attribute of the [tt_part] and [tt] shortcodes in all versions up to and including 1.1. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user-supplied shortcode attributes. Specifically, in the avp_texttoggle_part_shortcode() function, the 'title' attribute is extracted from shortcode attributes and concatenated directly into HTML output without any escaping — both within an HTML attribute context (title="...") on line 116 and in HTML content on line 119. While the 'class' attribute is properly validated using ctype_alnum(), the 'title' attribute has no sanitization whatsoever. An attacker can inject double-quote characters to break out of the title attribute and inject arbitrary HTML attributes including event handlers. 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 confidenceThe Text Toggle WordPress plugin (versions up to 1.1) has a stored XSS vulnerability in the avp_texttoggle_part_shortcode() function. The 'title' shortcode attribute is extracted and concatenated directly into HTML output without any sanitization or escaping—both in an HTML attribute context (line 116) and in HTML content (line 119). Attackers with Contributor-level access can inject double-quote characters to break out of the title attribute and inject arbitrary HTML event handlers.
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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Verify Text Toggle plugin is installedCheck the WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins) for a folder named 'text-toggle' or similar. Alternatively, query the wp_options table for the active_plugins option to see if the plugin is loaded.Affected if The plugin folder exists in wp-content/plugins or the plugin is listed in active_plugins option.
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Identify the installed plugin versionOpen the main plugin PHP file (usually text-toggle.php or similar in the plugin folder) and look for the version comment in the plugin header, such as 'Version: 1.1' or lower.Affected if The version number is 1.1 or below (including 1.0, 0.x versions).
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Locate shortcode usage in contentSearch the WordPress database (wp_posts table) for instances of the shortcode [avp_texttoggle_part] in post_content. Use SQL: SELECT ID, post_content FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[avp_texttoggle_part%'.Affected if Any posts or pages contain the [avp_texttoggle_part] shortcode with a title attribute.
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Inspect shortcode output for unsanitized titleView a page containing the shortcode in a browser, then inspect the HTML source. Look for the title attribute value in the generated HTML around line 116 area of the output. Check if the title value appears as raw text without escaping.Affected if The title attribute value contains unescaped characters, particularly quotes or special HTML characters that should have been escaped with esc_attr().
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Verify user role permissionsCheck WordPress user roles in wp_usermeta table for users with Contributor-level access or higher (capabilities including 'edit_posts' but not 'publish_posts').Affected if Any user accounts have Contributor-level permissions, as this role can exploit the stored XSS vulnerability.
A user is affected if the Text Toggle plugin version 1.1 or below is installed and the [avp_texttoggle_part] shortcode with a title attribute is in use on the site, allowing stored XSS injection.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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 · scopedAdd proper output escaping using esc_attr() for the title attribute in HTML attribute contexts and esc_html() for title content. Validate input or use WordPress sanitization functions before output.
Version 1.2 or later (any version above 1.1)
- 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
- 2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- 3. Locate the 'Text Toggle' plugin in the list
- 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' to update the plugin to the latest version
- 5. Alternatively, download the latest version of the Text Toggle plugin from the WordPress Plugin Repository and upload it via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin
- 6. After updating, verify the plugin is running on a version higher than 1.1
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-3997 — 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 sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-3997 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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