What the vulnerability does
01Description
The Football Pool plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the `shouttext` POST parameter of the Shoutbox widget in all versions up to, and including, 2.13.4 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. When a shoutbox form submission fails the nonce check (or `shouttext` is empty, or the user is unable to save), the raw POST value is echoed back into a `<textarea>` element using `printf('%s', ...)` with no HTML escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary web scripts in the browser of an authenticated victim (Subscriber-level or higher) who is tricked into submitting a crafted POST request to a page that contains the Shoutbox widget.
Explanation of Vulnerability in Simple Terms
02Summary
Football Pool versions 2.13.4 and earlier contain a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. An attacker can inject malicious scripts that execute in a victim's browser when they visit a crafted link or page. The vulnerability affects the application's scope, meaning the attack can impact other parts of the site or user sessions. No authentication is required to exploit this flaw.
What an attacker can do
03Attacker Capabilities
Inject malicious scripts that run in a victim's browser to steal session data or perform actions on their behalf.
Potential impact on your site
04Site Impact
Users visiting crafted links could have their sessions compromised or be redirected to phishing pages.
Conditions required to exploit
05Prerequisites
Victim must click a malicious link or visit an attacker-controlled page; no authentication required.
Key dates
06Disclosure timeline
August 5, 2026
CVE published
