WP Carousel Free <= 2.7.10 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'data-caption' Attribute
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.7.11
- Affected Version
<= 2.7.10- CVSS
- 6.4Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
- CVE
CVE-2026-4665
At a glance
CVE-2026-4665 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Carousel, Slider, Photo Gallery with Lightbox, Video Slider, by WP Carousel WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.7.10. 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 2.7.11; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2026, reported by Webbernaut.
Vulnerability Overview
The WP Carousel Free plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via crafted fancybox `data-caption` attributes in all versions up to, and including, 2.7.10. This is due to the `fancybox-config.js` script reading the carousel container's `id` attribute directly from the DOM to construct a jQuery selector without sanitization. When a Contributor crafts an HTML block with a malformed carousel container ID (containing characters invalid for jQuery selectors), the custom fancybox configuration throws a JavaScript error and fails to initialize. This causes the bundled fancybox library (v3.5.7) to fall back to its default caption handling, which renders the `data-caption` attribute content as raw HTML. Since WordPress allows `data-*` attributes through `wp_kses_post()`, 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 clicks an image in the crafted carousel lightbox.
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')
Carousel, Slider, Photo Gallery with Lightbox, Video Slider, by WP Carousel <= 2.7.10 carries this weakness at wp_kses_post(), and reaching it 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 Carousel, Slider, Photo Gallery with Lightbox, Video Slider, by WP Carousel the fix is 2.7.11: builds <= 2.7.10 are affected, anything from 2.7.11 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.7.11, 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: Carousel, Slider, Photo Gallery with Lightbox, Video Slider, by WP Carousel 2.7.11 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
- 6.4CVE-2024-5020: Multiple Plugins <= Stored DOM-Based XSS
CVE-2024-5020 - 6.4CVE-2024-2949: Carousel, Slider, Gallery by WP Carousel Stored XSS
CVE-2024-2949 - 6.4CVE-2022-4482: Carousel, Slider, Gallery by WP Carousel Stored XSS
CVE-2022-4482 - 4.4CVE-2024-13314: Carousel, Slider, Gallery by WP Carousel Stored XSS
CVE-2024-13314
Other vulnerabilities in Carousel, Slider, Photo Gallery with Lightbox, Video Slider, by WP Carousel
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C