CVE-2026-1293

Yoast SEO <= 26.8 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'yoast-schema' Block Attribute

2026-02-05 22:18

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 26.9
Affected Plugin: Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI
Affected Version: <= 26.8
CVSS: 6.4Medium
Weakness type: CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
CVE: CVE-2026-1293

View all Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2026-1293 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Yoast SEO WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 26.8. It carries a CVSS score of 6.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 26.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2026, reported by suyoung kim(AhnLab).

Vulnerability Overview

The Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the the `yoast-schema` block attribute in all versions up to, and including, 26.8 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for 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.

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

Reaching this weakness in Yoast SEO <= 26.8 takes an account at Contributor level or above. 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 Yoast SEO the fix is 26.9: builds <= 26.8 are affected, anything from 26.9 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 26.9, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Contributor 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. None of that substitutes for the fix: Yoast SEO 26.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-1293 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/8b2e7c2d-ed2f-439b-9cee-f2e5d46121b6 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-1293

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in Yoast SEO – Advanced SEO with real-time guidance and built-in AI

CVSS Vector

6.4

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityNone

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