CVE-2026-1866
📋 TL;DR
The Name Directory WordPress plugin has a stored XSS vulnerability that allows unauthenticated attackers to inject malicious scripts via public submission forms. If site administrators approve malicious submissions or auto-publish is enabled, these scripts execute when users visit affected pages. All WordPress sites using vulnerable plugin versions are affected.
💻 Affected Systems
- WordPress Name Directory Plugin
⚠️ Manual Verification Required
This CVE does not have specific version information in our database, so automatic vulnerability detection cannot determine if your system is affected.
Why? The CVE database entry doesn't specify which versions are vulnerable (no version ranges provided by the vendor/NVD).
🔒 Custom verification scripts are available for registered users. Sign up free to download automated test scripts.
- Review the CVE details at NVD
- Check vendor security advisories for your specific version
- Test if the vulnerability is exploitable in your environment
- Consider updating to the latest version as a precaution
⚠️ Risk & Real-World Impact
Worst Case
Attackers could steal administrator credentials, deface websites, redirect users to malicious sites, or install backdoors for persistent access.
Likely Case
Attackers inject malicious scripts to steal user session cookies, redirect visitors to phishing sites, or display unwanted advertisements.
If Mitigated
With proper input validation and output encoding, malicious scripts would be neutralized before execution.
🎯 Exploit Status
Exploitation requires submitting malicious content through public forms and either tricking administrators or relying on auto-publish.
🛠️ Fix & Mitigation
✅ Official Fix
Patch Version: 1.32.1 or later
Vendor Advisory: https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3455023/name-directory/trunk
Restart Required: No
Instructions:
1. Log into WordPress admin panel. 2. Navigate to Plugins → Installed Plugins. 3. Find Name Directory plugin. 4. Click 'Update Now' if available. 5. Alternatively, download version 1.32.1+ from WordPress repository and replace plugin files.
🔧 Temporary Workarounds
Disable Public Submissions
allTemporarily disable the public submission form to prevent exploitation.
Navigate to Name Directory settings in WordPress admin and disable 'Allow public submissions'
Require Administrator Approval
allEnsure all submissions require manual administrator approval before publishing.
Navigate to Name Directory settings and enable 'Require approval for submissions'
🧯 If You Can't Patch
- Disable the Name Directory plugin entirely until patched
- Implement a web application firewall (WAF) with XSS protection rules
🔍 How to Verify
Check if Vulnerable:
Check WordPress admin → Plugins → Installed Plugins for Name Directory version. If version is 1.32.0 or earlier, you are vulnerable.Check Version:
wp plugin list --name=name-directory --field=versionVerify Fix Applied:
After updating, verify plugin version shows 1.32.1 or later in WordPress admin panel.📡 Detection & Monitoring
Log Indicators:
- Unusual POST requests to submission forms with encoded HTML entities
- Multiple submission attempts from single IPs
Network Indicators:
- HTTP requests containing double-encoded HTML entities in name_directory_name or name_directory_description parameters
SIEM Query:
source="wordpress" AND (uri_path="/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php" OR uri_path CONTAINS "name-directory") AND (param_name="name_directory_name" OR param_name="name_directory_description") AND param_value MATCHES "&.*&"🔗 References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/name-directory/tags/1.31.0/helpers.php#L604
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/name-directory/tags/1.31.0/shortcode.php#L193
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/name-directory/tags/1.31.0/shortcode.php#L41
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3455023/name-directory/trunk?contextall=1&old=3446566&old_path=%2Fname-directory%2Ftrunk#file3
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/29d13457-ac60-4e3d-9d8b-0141e6f8f4f6?source=cve
