CVE-2026-118189 barn2media CVE debrief

Who should care

Defenders responsible for WordPress installations with the Posts Table with Search & Sort plugin should assess exposure and prioritize verification and remediation efforts based on plugin version and user roles. Defenders should also review compensating controls for exposed systems and implement additional security measures to prevent exploitation.

Why it matters

The Posts Table with Search & Sort plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting, allowing authenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts.

• Authenticated attackers with contributor-level access and above can inject arbitrary web scripts
• Injected scripts execute whenever a user accesses an injected page
• Defenders must verify plugin version and user roles to assess exposure
• Remediation priority is high due to potential for exploitation

Technical summary

The Posts Table with Search & Sort plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'date_format' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 1.4.14 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This vulnerability allows authenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts, which execute when a user accesses an injected page. The vulnerability exists due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping, allowing attackers to inject malicious scripts. Defenders should prioritize verifying the presence of this vulnerability in their WordPress installations and assess exposure based on the plugin version and user roles.

Defensive priority

Defenders should prioritize verifying the presence of this vulnerability in their WordPress installations and assess exposure based on the plugin version and user roles.

Recommended defensive actions

• Verify the plugin version and update to a patched version if available
• Assess exposure based on user roles and access levels
• Implement additional security measures to prevent exploitation
• Review compensating controls for exposed systems while remediation is scheduled and verified
• Check relevant monitoring, detection, and logs for exposed assets that need extra review
• Track exceptions, retest remediated assets, and close the item only after evidence is documented
• Confirm whether affected product deployments exist in managed environments and assign an owner for follow-up

Evidence notes

The vulnerability allows authenticated attackers with contributor-level access and above to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. The payload bypasses wp_kses_post at save time because it contains no literal angle bracket characters; the malicious HTML tags are only reconstructed at render time. Defenders must verify plugin version and user roles to assess exposure and prioritize remediation efforts.

Sources and references

Methodology and review provenance

AI-assisted synthesis based on stored public vulnerability evidence. System validation, approval state, and publication status do not by themselves establish human review of this revision. PatchSiren helps prioritize defensive review and does not prove exposure or remediation on any system.