Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-XJMX-223Q-52RW

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-08-05 09:31 – Updated: 2026-08-05 09:31

Details

The WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to generic SQL Injection via the 'wpma_metabox_authors_list' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 3.9.1 due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with author-level access and above, to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database. Exploitation is a two-step chain: an attacker first saves a crafted guest-author token via the wpma_metabox_authors_list parameter during post creation or editing, then triggers the injection when any admin user loads the post list screen at /wp-admin/edit.php, causing the injected SQL result to be rendered in the Authors column.

Severity

6.5 (Medium)


                  
                    CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

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JSON

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-11977"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-89"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-08-05T08:16:30Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "The WP Post Author \u2013 Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors \u0026 Custom Avatars plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to generic SQL Injection via the \u0027wpma_metabox_authors_list\u0027 parameter in all versions up to, and including, 3.9.1 due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with author-level access and above, to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database. Exploitation is a two-step chain: an attacker first saves a crafted guest-author token via the wpma_metabox_authors_list parameter during post creation or editing, then triggers the injection when any admin user loads the post list screen at /wp-admin/edit.php, causing the injected SQL result to be rendered in the Authors column.",
  "id": "GHSA-xjmx-223q-52rw",
  "modified": "2026-08-05T09:31:16Z",
  "published": "2026-08-05T09:31:16Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-11977"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-post-author/trunk/includes/multi-authors/wpa-multi-authors.php#L110"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-post-author/trunk/includes/multi-authors/wpa-multi-authors.php#L231"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-post-author/trunk/includes/multi-authors/wpa-multi-authors.php#L312"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=\u0026sfph_mail=\u0026reponame=\u0026new=3577603%40wp-post-author%2Ftrunk%2Fincludes%2Fmulti-authors%2Fwpa-multi-authors.php\u0026old=3166002%40wp-post-author%2Ftrunk%2Fincludes%2Fmulti-authors%2Fwpa-multi-authors.php\u0026sfp_email=\u0026sfph_mail="
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ca5cb925-6f95-4f81-92d0-5f3c8e5f7d59?source=cve"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2026-11977 (GCVE-0-2026-11977)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-08-05 07:39 – Updated: 2026-08-05 13:17

Title

WP Post Author <= 3.9.1 - Authenticated (Author+) SQL Injection

Summary

Severity

6.5 (Medium)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

SSVC

Exploitation: none Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial

CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)

Decision recorded 2026-08-05 13:16 UTC

CWE

CWE-89 - Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')

Assigner

Wordfence

References

5 references

URL	Tags
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabil…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-pos…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-pos…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-pos…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_…

Impacted products

1 product

Vendor	Product	Version
afthemes	WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars	Affected: 0 , ≤ 3.9.1 (semver)

Credits

Ryoma Nishioka

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-11977",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "partial"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-08-05T13:16:39.291129Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T13:17:35.618Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "WP Post Author \u2013 Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors \u0026 Custom Avatars",
          "vendor": "afthemes",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "3.9.1",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "finder",
          "value": "Ryoma Nishioka"
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "The WP Post Author \u2013 Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors \u0026 Custom Avatars plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to generic SQL Injection via the \u0027wpma_metabox_authors_list\u0027 parameter in all versions up to, and including, 3.9.1 due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with author-level access and above, to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database. Exploitation is a two-step chain: an attacker first saves a crafted guest-author token via the wpma_metabox_authors_list parameter during post creation or editing, then triggers the injection when any admin user loads the post list screen at /wp-admin/edit.php, causing the injected SQL result to be rendered in the Authors column."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 6.5,
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N",
            "version": "3.1"
          }
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-89",
              "description": "CWE-89 Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command (\u0027SQL Injection\u0027)",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T07:39:24.060Z",
        "orgId": "b15e7b5b-3da4-40ae-a43c-f7aa60e62599",
        "shortName": "Wordfence"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/ca5cb925-6f95-4f81-92d0-5f3c8e5f7d59?source=cve"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-post-author/trunk/includes/multi-authors/wpa-multi-authors.php#L312"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-post-author/trunk/includes/multi-authors/wpa-multi-authors.php#L110"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-post-author/trunk/includes/multi-authors/wpa-multi-authors.php#L231"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=\u0026sfph_mail=\u0026reponame=\u0026new=3577603%40wp-post-author%2Ftrunk%2Fincludes%2Fmulti-authors%2Fwpa-multi-authors.php\u0026old=3166002%40wp-post-author%2Ftrunk%2Fincludes%2Fmulti-authors%2Fwpa-multi-authors.php\u0026sfp_email=\u0026sfph_mail="
        }
      ],
      "timeline": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "time": "2026-06-18T16:38:25.000Z",
          "value": "Vendor Notified"
        },
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "time": "2026-08-04T19:33:14.000Z",
          "value": "Disclosed"
        }
      ],
      "title": "WP Post Author \u003c= 3.9.1 - Authenticated (Author+) SQL Injection"
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "b15e7b5b-3da4-40ae-a43c-f7aa60e62599",
    "assignerShortName": "Wordfence",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-11977",
    "datePublished": "2026-08-05T07:39:24.060Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-06-11T13:06:08.108Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-08-05T13:17:35.618Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

Detection rules are retrieved from Rulezet.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.

Action not permitted

GHSA-XJMX-223Q-52RW

CVE-2026-11977 (GCVE-0-2026-11977)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature