Textmetrics <= 3.6.5 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary Shortcode Execution
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.6.6
- Affected Plugin
- Textmetrics
- Affected Version
<= 3.6.5- CVSS
- 5.4Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2026-24564
At a glance
CVE-2026-24564 is a medium-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the Textmetrics WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.6.5. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.6.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2026, reported by theviper17y.
Vulnerability Overview
The The Textmetrics plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 3.6.5. This is due to the software allowing users to execute an action that does not properly validate a value before running do_shortcode. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to execute arbitrary shortcodes.
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 interaction from a victim user.
CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
Reaching this weakness in Textmetrics <= 3.6.5 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. For Textmetrics the fix is 3.6.6: builds <= 3.6.5 are affected, anything from 3.6.6 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.6.6, or a newer patched version
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. None of that substitutes for the fix: Textmetrics 3.6.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Scanner
- Alerts
External References
Related records
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