CVE-2022-4824Public exploitNetwork attack vector

Contributor-level stored XSS via unescaped shortcode attribute

Published Feb 6, 2023 · Updated Mar 26, 2025

Stored XSS in Essential Plugin WP Blog and Widgets before 2.3.1 allows remote authenticated users to inject scripts via a shortcode. The recent_blog_post handler places the user-controlled grid attribute into page markup without validation or output escaping, so a quote can terminate the attribute and add an event handler. Contributor access is sufficient to store the payload, but a higher-privileged user must open the affected page before the script executes in that user's browser session.

CVSS severity5.4
Medium
EPSS probability0.65%
Next 30 days · Sep 16, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkNot available
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Summary

What happened

Stored XSS in Essential Plugin WP Blog and Widgets before 2.3.1 allows remote authenticated users to inject scripts via a shortcode. The recent_blog_post handler places the user-controlled grid attribute into page markup without validation or output escaping, so a quote can terminate the attribute and add an event handler. Contributor access is sufficient to store the payload, but a higher-privileged user must open the affected page before the script executes in that user's browser session.

The record

CVE
CVE-2022-4824
Published
Feb 6, 2023
Updated
Mar 26, 2025
Vendor
Essential Plugin
Product
WP Blog and Widgets
Classifications
CWE-79, T1059.007
Attack vector
network
Privileges
authenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Feb 6, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Mar 26, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.

Exploitability

Present is not the same as exploitable

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Is a vulnerable build present?

Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.

  1. Affected versionversion=0 <2.3.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesauthenticated

What is affected?

Essential Plugin · WP Blog and Widgetsversion=0 <2.3.1

Published CVSS scores

7.4WordfenceCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L
5.4CISA-ADPCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
5.4NIST NVDCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.

Attacks

What attackers are doing with it

Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.

Daily unique IPsNo honeypot observations are available for this CVE in the selected window.

No observations available

Sep 9, 2026Sep 15, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 15, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitPublished

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Cross-Site Scripting (XSS)
T1059.007Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript

Public exploit references

Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.

Technologies

Your stack

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Your stack

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