CVE-2026-12054 in Download Manager Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/10/2026
The Download Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via 'REFERRER' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 3.3.57 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts that execute in a victim's browser.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/10/2026
The Download Manager plugin for WordPress contains a critical security flaw identified as Reflected Cross-Site Scripting, which affects all versions up through 3.3.57. This vulnerability stems from insufficient input sanitization and output escaping mechanisms within the application code. Specifically, the issue resides in how the software handles the REFERRER parameter during HTTP requests. When a user interacts with the plugin, the system fails to properly validate or encode data derived from this header before including it in the HTML response sent back to the client browser. This lack of rigorous validation allows malicious actors to inject arbitrary web scripts that are subsequently executed within the context of the victim's session.
From a technical perspective, reflected cross-site scripting occurs when untrusted input is immediately returned by an application without proper sanitization. In this specific instance, attackers can craft URLs or manipulate HTTP headers such that the REFERRER value contains executable JavaScript code. When the vulnerable page loads, the browser interprets this injected script as legitimate content belonging to the site's domain. This bypasses same-origin policy protections because the malicious code runs in the security context of the trusted WordPress installation rather than an external origin. The absence of output escaping means that special characters are not converted into their HTML entity equivalents, allowing tags and event handlers to execute directly within the DOM structure.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is significant for both site administrators and end users. Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this flaw without needing any prior credentials or access rights. By tricking a victim into clicking a specially crafted link, an attacker can steal session cookies, hijack user sessions, perform actions on behalf of the authenticated user, or redirect the victim to phishing sites. Since WordPress is widely used for content management and e-commerce, compromising these installations can lead to broader network infiltration if other vulnerabilities are chained together. The ability to execute arbitrary scripts also facilitates keylogging, form field manipulation, and defacement of the website interface, severely undermining trust in the platform's integrity.
This vulnerability aligns with Common Weakness Enumeration category CWE-79, which covers Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation commonly known as Cross-site Scripting. Furthermore, from a tactical standpoint relevant to threat intelligence frameworks like MITRE ATT&CK, this exploit falls under Technique T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter within the Execution tactic, specifically leveraging browser-based scripting for initial access or persistence depending on how the payload is utilized. It also relates to T1189 Drive-by Client Side Web Traffic as it relies on user interaction with a malicious link to trigger execution in the victim's environment.
To mitigate this risk, immediate action is required by upgrading the Download Manager plugin to version 3.3.58 or later where these sanitization and escaping issues have been addressed. Administrators should ensure that all WordPress core components and plugins are kept up to date with the latest security patches provided by their respective developers. Implementing a Web Application Firewall can provide an additional layer of defense by filtering out malicious payloads in HTTP requests before they reach the application logic. Additionally, enforcing strict Content Security Policy headers helps restrict the sources from which scripts can be loaded or executed, thereby reducing the impact even if some injection attempts succeed. Regular security audits and code reviews focusing on input validation and output encoding practices are essential for maintaining long-term resilience against such web-based attacks.