dbcve.org
VulnerabilityAwaiting classification

CVE-2026-5305

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-06-25
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
95/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 Email Address Encoder WordPress plugin before 1.0.25, email-encoder-premium WordPress plugin before 0.3.12 does not properly handle email replacement, which could allow unauthenticated users to perform Stored XSS 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 Email Address Encoder WordPress plugin (before 1.0.25) and email-encoder-premium (before 0.3.12) fails to properly sanitize or encode email addresses during the replacement process. This allows unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious scripts via email addresses that are stored and rendered on the site, leading to Stored XSS.

MitigationUpdate the Email Address Encoder plugin to version 1.0.25 or later (and email-encoder-premium to 0.3.12 or later). Review existing content for malicious email entries that may have been injected.

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
Required
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

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

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 Email Address Encoder plugin installation
    Check your WordPress plugins directory (wp-content/plugins/) for a folder named 'email-address-encoder', 'email-encoder', or similar. Alternatively, log into WordPress admin and navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins to find the plugin.
    Affected if The plugin folder is present in the plugins directory.
  2. Identify the installed version
    Open the main plugin PHP file (typically email-address-encoder.php or index.php inside the plugin folder) and look for a version comment or constant at the top of the file, for example: 'Version: 1.0.24' or 'define("EE_VERSION", "1.0.24")'. Compare this version to the affected ranges: below 1.0.25 for the free version, or below 0.3.12 for the premium version.
    Affected if The installed version is below 1.0.25 (free) or below 0.3.12 (premium).
  3. Confirm the plugin is active
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and verify whether Email Address Encoder or Email Encoder Premium is activated. Alternatively, query the wp_options table for the option_name 'active_plugins' and check if the plugin's main file is listed.
    Affected if The plugin is active and processing email addresses.
  4. Inspect stored email content for injection attempts
    If the plugin stores encoded emails in posts, pages, or custom post types, search the wp_posts table for email patterns (e.g., %40, [email protected], or encoded strings) within post_content. Also check any custom tables the premium version may use. Look for unusual patterns like script tags, javascript:, or event handlers within email addresses.
    Affected if Stored email data contains suspicious patterns suggesting exploitation.

You are affected if the Email Address Encoder plugin (free version below 1.0.25 or premium below 0.3.12) is installed and active in your WordPress environment.

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 Email Address Encoder plugin to version 1.0.25 or later (and email-encoder-premium to 0.3.12 or later). Review existing content for malicious email entries that may have been injected.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Email Address Encoder plugin version 1.0.25 or later; email-encoder-premium version 0.3.12 or later

  1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. Navigate to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. Locate 'Email Address Encoder' plugin
  4. If using the free version, verify current version is below 1.0.25; if using 'email-encoder-premium', verify version is below 0.3.12
  5. Update the plugin to version 1.0.25 (free) or version 0.3.12 (premium)
  6. Verify the update was successful and test that email encoding functionality works correctly

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing3.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
9.0 hours of engineering $1,590
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,544.

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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-2026-5305 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