Description

Unauthenticated Cross Site Scripting (XSS) in WP Data Access <= 5.5.79 versions.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.1",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-06T15:17:20.977Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-06T15:17:20.977Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An unauthenticated Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability has been identified in the WP Data Access plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions up to and including 5.5.79. This security flaw allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious client-side scripts, typically JavaScript or HTML, into trusted web pages rendered by the application. The primary impact of this vulnerability includes potential session hijacking, unauthorized actions performed on behalf of authenticated users, defacement of the web interface, and redirection to malicious external domains. Because the vulnerability requires no prior authentication, the attack surface is significantly broadened, enabling adversaries to target any visitor or administrator interacting with the vulnerable endpoints. Risk implications are severe, as successful exploitation compromises the integrity and confidentiality of user interactions with the WordPress site. Mitigation requires immediate administrative action to update the affected product to a patched version once available or to implement strict input sanitization and output encoding controls on vulnerable parameters.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides within the WP Data Access plugin up to version 5.5.79, specifically stemming from inadequate input sanitization and insufficient output encoding of user-supplied parameters handled by the plugin's components. Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) occurs when an application includes untrusted data in a web page without proper validation or escaping, allowing the browser to execute the injected payload in the context of the victim's session.\nIn this specific context, the attack vector is network-exposed, requiring zero authentication or privilege requirements. An unauthenticated attacker can craft a malicious HTTP request containing a payload designed to exploit the lack of parameter sanitization. The attack flow begins when the adversary delivers the crafted URL or input payload to a victim or submits it directly to the vulnerable endpoint within the WP Data Access plugin.\nUpon receipt, the vulnerable component processes the input and subsequently reflects or stores the unvalidated data within the Document Object Model (DOM) of the rendered response without implementing context-aware output encoding. When the victim's browser parses the HTTP response, it interprets the injected payload as legitimate script execution rather than inert text data.\nThe payload behavior typically executes arbitrary JavaScript within the security context of the victim's browser session. Depending on the target user's privileges—such as an administrator interacting with the plugin interface—post-exploitation impact can escalate rapidly. An attacker can leverage the executed script to steal session cookies, capture sensitive authentication tokens, perform unauthorized administrative actions, or inject further malicious functionality into the WordPress environment, thereby fully compromising client-side security controls."
}