CVE-2026-93526 in Event Tickets Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 09/23/2026
Unauthenticated Cross Site Scripting (XSS) in Event Tickets <= 5.29.4 versions.
Be aware that VulDB is the high quality source for vulnerability data.
Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/23/2026
The vulnerability identified as an unauthenticated cross-site scripting flaw within Event Tickets plugin versions up to and including 5.29.4 represents a significant security risk for websites utilizing this WordPress extension. This specific class of vulnerability allows attackers to inject malicious client-side scripts into web pages viewed by other users without requiring any form of authentication or prior login credentials. The absence of an access control requirement means that the attack surface is maximized, as any internet user can potentially trigger the exploit simply by interacting with a crafted URL or input field associated with the plugin's event management features. This characteristic fundamentally lowers the barrier to entry for attackers, enabling widespread exploitation even against sites with strong administrative security postures.
From a technical perspective, the flaw typically stems from insufficient sanitization and validation of user-supplied data before it is rendered in the browser context. When users submit information such as ticket purchaser details, event descriptions, or custom form fields through the Event Tickets interface, the application fails to properly encode special characters like angle brackets, quotes, and ampersands. Consequently, when this unsanitized input is retrieved and displayed on subsequent pages, the web browser interprets the injected code as executable JavaScript rather than plain text data. This execution occurs within the security context of the victim's session, granting the attacker the ability to manipulate the Document Object Model or access sensitive cookies stored by the website.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is severe and multifaceted. Primary among these risks is account hijacking, where an attacker can steal administrative or user session tokens via document.cookie extraction, leading to full compromise of the WordPress installation if high-privilege accounts are targeted. Furthermore, attackers may deploy phishing attacks by dynamically altering page content to mimic legitimate login forms, thereby harvesting credentials from unsuspecting visitors. The vulnerability also facilitates defacement campaigns and malware distribution, where malicious scripts redirect users to harmful domains or download payloads onto victim machines. In enterprise environments, this can lead to data exfiltration of sensitive customer information collected during ticket purchases, resulting in regulatory compliance violations under frameworks such as GDPR or CCPA due to the breach of personal identifiable information confidentiality and integrity.
In terms of industry standard classification, this vulnerability aligns with CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation commonly known as Cross-site Scripting (XSS). Specifically, it falls under the sub-category of Reflected or Stored XSS depending on whether the payload is executed immediately upon request processing or persisted in a database for later retrieval. From an offensive security perspective, this technique maps to MITRE ATT&CK techniques such as T1059 Command and Scripting Interpreter: JavaScript and potentially T1271 Application Layer Protocol if used to exfiltrate data via HTTP requests. Understanding these mappings helps organizations prioritize remediation efforts based on established threat intelligence frameworks that categorize the behavior and impact of web-based attacks.
Mitigation strategies must focus on immediate patching as well as defensive coding practices. The most effective solution is to upgrade the Event Tickets plugin to a version later than 5.29.4, where developers have implemented proper input sanitization using functions like wp_kses or esc_html in PHP and ensured output encoding via JavaScript libraries that escape special characters before DOM insertion. For sites unable to update immediately due to compatibility constraints, implementing a Web Application Firewall is recommended as an interim measure. Such firewalls can detect and block common XSS payloads by analyzing HTTP request parameters for suspicious patterns involving script tags, event handlers like onerror or onload, and encoded JavaScript URIs. Additionally, enforcing strict Content Security Policy headers that restrict the sources from which scripts can be loaded adds a critical layer of defense-in-depth, limiting the damage even if an injection attempt succeeds. Regular security audits and penetration testing should also be conducted to identify similar input validation gaps across other plugins and custom code within the WordPress ecosystem.