Software component issue could allow unintended commands to run
The WP User Avatar / ProfilePress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Shortcode Execution in versions up to, and including, 4.17.5.
What happened
- The WP User Avatar / ProfilePress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Shortcode Execution in versions up to, and including, 4.17.5. This is due to the get_user_profile_structure() function assembling the front-end profile buffer — which includes raw comment excerpts inlined by author_comment_query() — and passing the entire buffer to do_shortcode() after only a narrow neutralization pass (ppress_neutralize_buffer_shortcodes) that blocks pp-custom-html and bracket fragments containing HTML delimiters but leaves any other well-formed shortcode intact. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to inject arbitrary shortcodes (from any active plugin or theme) with attacker-chosen attributes by posting a comment whose body contains the shortcode markup; the shortcode is then executed server-side when any visitor loads the target's front-end profile Comments tab, letting the attacker reach capability-gated or data-returning shortcodes and inject raw HTML markup into a publicly viewable page.Security Advisory CVE-2026-104003
- The WP User Avatar / ProfilePress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Shortcode Execution in versions up to, and including, 4.17.5. This is due to the getuserprofilestructure() function assembling the front-end profile buffer — which includes raw comment excerpts inlined by authorcommentquery() — and…Advisory description (CVE-2026-104003)
Contributing factors stated by the source
- The WP User Avatar / ProfilePress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Shortcode Execution in versions up to, and including, 4.17.5. This is due to the getuserprofilestructure() function assembling the front-end profile buffer — which includes raw comment excerpts inlined by authorcommentquery() — and…
The failure pattern
Watch the pattern: Privileged action without an enforceable approval gate
Related standards
CollectSEA's mapping through this incident's failure pattern; not an official determination by the standards bodies.
Building something similar?
Describe your design and see every precedent that applies, with safeguards you can hand to your coding agent.
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