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

CVE-2026-7661

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-12
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 Bootstrap Shortcode plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the `box` shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 1.0. 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 · moderate confidence

The Bootstrap Shortcode WordPress plugin fails to sanitize and escape user-supplied attributes in the 'box' shortcode, allowing authenticated attackers with Contributor-level or higher permissions to inject malicious JavaScript that persists in page content and executes when viewed.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to a patched version once available, and implement proper input sanitization (sanitize_text_field) and output escaping (esc_html, esc_attr) on all shortcode attributes before rendering.

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 Bootstrap Shortcode plugin is installed
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Plugins and confirm 'Bootstrap Shortcode' or similar plugin is active. Note the installed version from the plugin description.
    Affected if The plugin is installed and active with no patch applied to sanitize shortcode attributes.
  2. Identify all posts/pages using the 'box' shortcode
    Search your WordPress database: SELECT ID, post_title, post_content FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[box%' AND post_status='publish'; (adjust prefix if needed).
    Affected if Any published content contains the 'box' shortcode with user-supplied attributes.
  3. Inspect shortcode attributes for lack of escaping
    Examine the raw post_content for [box] shortcode usage. Look for attributes that accept user input (e.g., title, content, class, href) that may contain unsanitized values.
    Affected if The shortcode attributes contain raw HTML, JavaScript, or unescaped special characters like < > " ' without proper encoding.
  4. Check for existing XSS payloads in shortcode content
    Manually review posts containing [box] shortcodes. Search for patterns like javascript:, onload=, onerror=, <script>, or encoded payloads in attribute values.
    Affected if Malicious JavaScript or HTML injection payloads are present in any box shortcode attributes.
  5. Verify contributor-level user accounts exist
    Navigate to WordPress admin > Users and review user roles. Contributor role can create published content via shortcodes if proper capability checks are missing.
    Affected if Any user with Contributor or higher role exists who could author content with the vulnerable shortcode.

A user is affected if the Bootstrap Shortcode plugin is installed, the 'box' shortcode is used in published content, and that content contains unsanitized user-supplied attributes that could execute malicious JavaScript when viewed.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the plugin to a patched version once available, and implement proper input sanitization (sanitize_text_field) and output escaping (esc_html, esc_attr) on all shortcode attributes before rendering.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
6.0 hours of engineering $1,040
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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-2026-7661 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