---
id: "CVE-2026-109979"
kind: "vulnerability"
aliases: ["CVE-2026-109979"]
title: "WordPress Related Posts plugin: contributors can read titles of private posts"
severity: "medium"
cvss: 4.3
epss: null
exploited: false
status: "open"
category: "package"
products: []
ecosystems: []
tags: ["package", "self-hosted", "wordpress", "wordpress-plugins"]
not_affected_if: ["no-contributor-accounts", "plugin-not-installed", "plugin-version-above-3.0.0"]
published_at: "2026-10-28T07:16:45+00:00"
first_seen_at: "2026-10-28T07:31:38+00:00"
updated_at: "2026-10-28T07:33:34+00:00"
sources: [{"source": "nvd", "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-109979", "first_seen_at": "2026-10-28T07:31:38+00:00"}]
---

# WordPress Related Posts plugin: contributors can read titles of private posts

The Related Posts for WordPress plugin up to and including 3.0.0 lets a Contributor-level user link arbitrary post IDs to their own draft through a hidden admin page. The editor meta box then displays the titles of drafts, private, pending, future and trashed posts they should not be able to read.

_Summary, check and fix written by a model from the sources; labelled as such._

## How to check

- Check the installed version of the Related Posts for WordPress plugin (`wp plugin get related-posts-for-wp --field=version` or the Plugins screen); versions up to and including `3.0.0` are affected.
- Confirm the plugin is active and that the hidden `rp4wp_link_related` admin page is reachable by Contributor-level accounts.

## Fix

- Update the Related Posts for WordPress plugin to a version later than `3.0.0`; the sources do not name the fixed version.
- Until updated, deactivate the plugin or restrict Contributor accounts on the site.

## Timeline

- 2026-10-28T07:31:38+00:00 nvd https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-109979

## From the sources

The Related Posts for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in versions up to, and including, 3.0.0 via the 'rp4wp_create_link' parameter of the hidden 'rp4wp_link_related' admin page. The handle_create_link() handler verifies the nonce and that the current user can edit the parent post, but never checks that the attacker-supplied child post ID is one the user is allowed to read; LinkRepository::insert() stores the arbitrary child ID without validation, and ManageLinks::render() later calls LinkRepository::get_children() in its no-extra-args fast path, which falls through to array_map('get_post', $child_ids) — bypassing read_private_posts/read_post capability checks — and then echoes esc_html($child->post_title) in the parent's editor meta box. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to read the titles of arbitrary non-public posts (drafts, pending, private, future, trashed) authored by higher-privileged users by linking those post IDs to a draft they own and then reading the resulting meta box.

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