Task Manager <= 3.0.2 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary Shortcode Execution via 'task_id' Parameter
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- Task Manager
- Affected Version
<= 3.0.2- CVSS
- 6.5Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2026-4004
At a glance
CVE-2026-4004 is a medium-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the Task Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.0.2. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed March 2026, reported by theviper17y.
Vulnerability Overview
The Task Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution via the 'search' AJAX action in all versions up to, and including, 3.0.2. This is due to missing capability checks in the callback_search() function and insufficient input validation that allows shortcode syntax (square brackets) to pass through sanitize_text_field() and be concatenated into a do_shortcode() call. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to execute arbitrary shortcodes on the site by injecting shortcode syntax into parameters like 'task_id', 'point_id', 'categories_id', or 'term'.
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-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Task Manager <= 3.0.2 carries this weakness at search, and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber level or above. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.
The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Task Manager yet, so installs running <= 3.0.2 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Subscriber access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Task Manager
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