Description
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.
References7
- pastebin.com/raw/pCgrW6Pf
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-avatar/tags/4.17.5/s…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-avatar/tags/4.17.5/s…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-avatar/tags/4.17.5/s…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-avatar/tags/4.17.5/s…
- plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-user-avatar/tags/4.17.6/s…
- www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/83adfbff-f625…
Metrics
- CVSS 3.1
-
5.4
MEDIUM
Score source: CNA
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N - EPSS — exploit probability
- 0% percentile: 14 · as of 10 November 2026
- CWE
- CWE-94
Could this be exploited in your environment?
A patch closes the known hole. A penetration test shows what an attacker can still reach — with proof.