CVE-2026-97661Network attack vectorHinoki check available

Stored XSS via unescaped gateway form field

Published Oct 1, 2026 · Updated Oct 1, 2026

Stored XSS in Business Essentials for Contact Form 7 1.2.1 and earlier lets remote attackers inject scripts via the gateway form field. The Payments module accepts a submitted gateway value without sufficient sanitization and later outputs it without adequate escaping, leaving script content in a page viewed by another user. Exploitation requires that the module be enabled and a form accept both PayPal and Stripe gateways; the script runs when that page is opened.

CVSS severity7.2
High
EPSS probability0.24%
Next 30 days · Oct 19, 2026
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Based on sourced intelligence
Hinoki checkAvailable
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Summary

What happened

Stored XSS in Business Essentials for Contact Form 7 1.2.1 and earlier lets remote attackers inject scripts via the gateway form field. The Payments module accepts a submitted gateway value without sufficient sanitization and later outputs it without adequate escaping, leaving script content in a page viewed by another user. Exploitation requires that the module be enabled and a form accept both PayPal and Stripe gateways; the script runs when that page is opened.

The record

CVE
CVE-2026-97661
Published
Oct 1, 2026
Updated
Oct 1, 2026
Vendor
Scott Paterson
Product
Business Essentials for Contact Form 7
Classifications
CWE-79, T1189
Attack vector
network
Privileges
unauthenticated

Timeline

How it unfolded

  1. Oct 1, 2026CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
  2. Oct 1, 2026Record 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 <=1.2.1

What conditions does exploitation require?

Attack vectornetwork
Required privilegesunauthenticated

What is affected?

Scott Paterson · Business Essentials for Contact Form 7version=0 <=1.2.1

Published CVSS scores

7.2Wordfence CNACVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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.

Activity data is delayed. The latest report is Sep 28, 2026.

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

No observations available

Sep 22, 2026Sep 28, 2026
Latest reporting daySep 28, 2026
Latest daily unique IPsUnavailable
Prior 30-day averageUnavailable
SourceShadowserver honeypots (KEV)
Vectornetwork
Privilegesunauthenticated
Known exploitationUnconfirmed
Public exploitUnconfirmed

Weakness, pattern, technique

CWE-79Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
T1189Drive-by Compromise

Public exploit references

No public exploit references are available in this record.

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Technologies

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Your stack

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