Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth 16.1 - 16.1.2 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting

2026-09-08 00:00
Jetpack

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 16.1.3
Affected Plugin
Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth
Affected Version
16.1 – 16.1.2
CVSS
7.2High
Weakness type
CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE
CVE pending
View all Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Jetpack WordPress plugin, affecting versions 16.1 – 16.1.2. It carries a CVSS score of 7.2 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 16.1.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2026, reported by Jetpack.

Vulnerability Overview

The Jetpack – WP Security, Backup, Speed, & Growth plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting in versions 16.1 through 16.1.2. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user.

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

Reaching this weakness in Jetpack 16.1 – 16.1.2 takes no account at all. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.

Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For Jetpack the fix is 16.1.3: builds 16.1 – 16.1.2 are affected, anything from 16.1.3 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 16.1.3, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Jetpack 16.1.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/2ae1c18c-5be3-48db-af31-4c88daa549fc

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