CVE-2026-8887
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 Listen Shortcode plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'listen' shortcode in versions up to, and including, 1.0. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user supplied attributes (src, start, end) in the listenEmbedJS() function, which are echoed inside a single-quoted HTML attribute without 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 confidenceThe Listen Shortcode plugin for WordPress versions up to 1.0 contains a stored XSS vulnerability in the listenEmbedJS() function. Authenticated attackers with contributor-level access can inject arbitrary JavaScript via the 'listen' shortcode's src, start, and end attributes, which are echoed inside single-quoted HTML attributes without proper sanitization or escaping.
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 plugin is installedCheck WordPress plugins directory for 'listen-shortcode' folder or view installed plugins in WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed PluginsAffected if The Listen Shortcode plugin is present in the WordPress installation
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Check installed versionView the plugin header in listen-shortcode.php or check the version field in WordPress plugin admin; compare against '1.0' (versions up to and including 1.0 are affected)Affected if Installed version is 1.0 or lower
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Identify shortcode usageSearch WordPress database (wp_posts table) for posts containing the '[listen' shortcode pattern, or inspect content for the listen shortcode with src, start, or end attributesAffected if The listen shortcode is actively used in site content
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Review contributor-level accessCheck WordPress user roles under Users > All Users to see if any accounts have Contributor role or higher (which can create/edit posts containing the malicious shortcode)Affected if Users with Contributor, Author, Editor, or Administrator roles exist on the site
If the Listen Shortcode plugin is installed (version 1.0 or lower) and users with Contributor-level or higher access exist on the site, the stored XSS vulnerability is potentially exploitable in any content containing the listen shortcode.
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 dataApply proper input sanitization (sanitize_text_field, esc_attr) and output escaping (esc_attr) to all user-supplied shortcode attributes before rendering them in HTML. Until a patched version is available, consider disabling the plugin or restricting contributor-level access.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2026-8887 — 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-2026-8887 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