Total <= 2.2.1 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Post Title in Blog Section Image alt Attribute
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.2.2
- Affected Theme
- Total
- Affected Version
<= 2.2.1- CVSS
- 5.4Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
- CVE
CVE-2026-5077
At a glance
CVE-2026-5077 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Total WordPress theme, affecting versions <= 2.2.1. It carries a CVSS score of 5.4 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 2.2.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2026, reported by Osvaldo Noe Gonzalez Del Rio (Os).
Vulnerability Overview
The Total theme for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via post titles in versions up to, and including, 2.2.1 due to insufficient output escaping when rendering the_title() inside HTML attribute context in the home blog section template. 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. Exploitation requires the malicious post to be published and displayed with a featured image in the Home Page blog section.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed.
CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Total <= 2.2.1 carries this weakness at the_title(), 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 Total the fix is 2.2.2: builds <= 2.2.1 are affected, anything from 2.2.2 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.2.2, 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: Total 2.2.2 closes this, and updating the theme is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
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