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

CVE-2026-8873

MEDIUM · 6.4 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-05-27
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 Content Slideshow plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Shortcode Attributes in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.1 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. 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 confidence

The Content Slideshow WordPress plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape shortcode attributes, allowing authenticated users with contributor-level access to inject malicious JavaScript. This stored XSS persists in pages using the plugin's shortcode and executes whenever users view those pages.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 2.4.2 or later. Until then, review existing pages using the slideshow shortcode and limit shortcode creation permissions to trusted roles only.

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 Content Slideshow plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Content Slideshow' in the list. Note whether it is installed and whether it is activated.
    Affected if The plugin is not installed or not activated
  2. Determine the installed plugin version
    In the Plugins list, click on the plugin name or view the plugin files to find the version number in the plugin header comment. Compare this to the version that includes the security fix.
    Affected if The installed version is earlier than the fixed release version
  3. Identify pages using the plugin shortcode
    Search your WordPress content for the shortcode pattern used by this plugin (typically [content_slideshow] or similar). Use phpMyAdmin or WP-CLI to search the wp_posts table for the shortcode in post_content.
    Affected if Pages or posts contain the plugin shortcode and could be serving injected scripts
  4. Review contributor-level user accounts
    In WordPress admin, go to Users > All Users and identify accounts with the Contributor role. These users have the access level required to exploit this vulnerability.
    Affected if Contributor or higher roles exist for untrusted users who could inject malicious shortcode attributes

Your environment is affected if the Content Slideshow plugin is installed with a vulnerable version AND pages using its shortcode exist AND untrusted users have contributor-level access.

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 plugin to version 2.4.2 or later. Until then, review existing pages using the slideshow shortcode and limit shortcode creation permissions to trusted roles only.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

Content Slideshow plugin version newer than 2.4.1 (check WordPress plugin repository for latest stable release)

  1. 1. Check the current version of the Content Slideshow plugin installed on your WordPress site
  2. 2. Navigate to Plugins > Instured Plugins in the WordPress admin dashboard
  3. 3. Locate the Content Slideshow plugin and verify its current version number
  4. 4. Visit the WordPress plugin repository at plugins.trac.wordpress.org or search for Content Slideshow in the WordPress plugin directory to identify the latest available version
  5. 5. If a version newer than 2.4.1 is available, update the plugin to the latest version to resolve the Stored XSS vulnerability
  6. 6. After updating, verify the fix by testing shortcode functionality with various inputs
  7. 7. Consider using a WordPress security plugin to scan for any existing XSS injections that may have been exploited
Caveat Minor - plugin updates typically do not introduce breaking changes, but test in staging if possible

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

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
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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-2026-8873 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
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