CVE-2026-5717
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 VI: Include Post By plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'class_container' attribute of the 'include-post-by-cat' shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 0.4.200706 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 confidenceThe VI: Include Post By Cat WordPress plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape the 'class_container' attribute in its 'include-post-by-cat' shortcode, allowing authenticated users with contributor-level permissions to inject malicious JavaScript via stored XSS that executes when other users view affected pages.
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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Confirm plugin installationNavigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and check if 'VI Include Post By Cat' or 'Include Post By Cat' is listed as an installed pluginAffected if Plugin is not installed means not affected
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Identify installed versionView the plugin details in WordPress admin plugins page to read the version number from the plugin headerAffected if Version is unpatched and lower than the fixed release version
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Detect shortcode usageSearch WordPress database or use a plugin to scan for occurrences of the [include-post-by-cat] shortcode in posts, pages, or widgetsAffected if Shortcode is present in published content
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Verify attribute usageReview pages using the shortcode to see if the class_container attribute is explicitly definedAffected if class_container attribute is used with user-controlled input
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Check contributor user accountsGo to WordPress admin > Users and review for accounts with Contributor roleAffected if Contributor or higher-privileged authenticated users exist on the site
Environment is affected if the plugin is installed with an unpatched version, the shortcode is in use on public pages, and contributor-level accounts exist who could inject the malicious payload.
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.
From vendor dataUpdate the plugin to version 0.4.200706 or later; if unavailable, implement temporary mitigation by removing the shortcode from public-facing pages until a patch is released, and review user permissions for contributor-level accounts.
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 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 $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-5717 — 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-2026-5717 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