What the vulnerability does
01Description
The Essential Widgets plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the plugin's ew-author, ew-archive, ew-category, ew-page, and ew-menu shortcodes in all versions up to, and including, 3.0 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. NOTE: This vulnerability was partially fixed in version 3.0.
Explanation of Vulnerability in Simple Terms
02Summary
Essential Widgets versions 3.0 and earlier contain a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. An authenticated user with low privileges can inject malicious scripts that execute in the browsers of other site visitors, potentially compromising their sessions or stealing sensitive data. The vulnerability affects the entire site scope due to how the flaw propagates.
What an attacker can do
03Attacker Capabilities
Inject malicious scripts that run in other users' browsers and steal their session data or perform actions on their behalf.
Potential impact on your site
04Site Impact
Visitors' accounts and data are at risk; attackers can deface content, steal credentials, or redirect users to malicious sites.
Conditions required to exploit
05Prerequisites
Attacker must have a low-privilege authenticated account on the site; no user interaction required from victims.
Key dates
06Disclosure timeline
February 5, 2026
CVE published
April 8, 2026
Record updated
