{"id":"CVE-2026-97640","kind":"vulnerability","aliases":["CVE-2026-97640"],"related":[],"title":"WPConsent cookie banner plugin: comment XSS via mXSS sanitizer bypass","description":"The WPConsent – Cookie Banner & Cookie Consent for Privacy Compliance (GDPR / CCPA / EU Compliance Cookie Notice) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Content via Simple HTML DOM Parser Noise-Key Restoration (mXSS) in all versions up to, and including, 1.1.9 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. This requires the Script Blocking feature to be enabled, and the exploit chain depends on an attacker submitting two coordinated comments — one embedding event-handler syntax inside an allowed <code> element and one placing the deterministic ___noise___ restoration key inside an allowed <abbr title=\"\"> attribute — with the key offset confirmable via an unauthenticated wpconsent_debug=1 request.","summary":"The WPConsent cookie consent plugin for WordPress, up to and including 1.1.9, fails to sanitize comment content, so an unauthenticated visitor can plant a stored mXSS payload that runs JavaScript in the browser of anyone who loads the affected page. The attack needs two coordinated comments and the Script Blocking feature turned on.","severity":"high","cvss":7.2,"epss":null,"exploited":false,"exploited_at":null,"products":[],"ecosystems":[],"tags":["package","self-hosted","wordpress","wpconsent"],"not_affected_if":["comments-closed","plugin-not-installed","script-blocking-disabled"],"how_to_check":"- Check the installed WPConsent version in the WordPress plugins screen or `wp plugin get wpconsent --field=version`\n- Confirm whether the Script Blocking feature is enabled in the plugin settings\n- Check whether comments are open on pages that load the plugin","fix":"- Update the WPConsent plugin to a version later than `1.1.9` once a patched release is available; the sources do not name a fixed version\n- Until patched, disable the Script Blocking feature or deactivate the plugin","status":"open","published_at":"2026-10-16T07:17:14+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:12+00:00","triaged_at":"2026-10-25T03:29:38+00:00","updated_at":"2026-10-25T03:29:38+00:00","category":"package","confidence":0.7,"triage":{"at":"2026-10-25T03:29:38Z","model":"claude-haiku-5-5","output":{"fix":"- Update the WPConsent plugin to a version later than `1.1.9` once a patched release is available; the sources do not name a fixed version\n- Until patched, disable the Script Blocking feature or deactivate the plugin","reach":"internet","title":"WPConsent cookie banner plugin: comment XSS via mXSS sanitizer bypass","impact":"medium","summary":"The WPConsent cookie consent plugin for WordPress, up to and including 1.1.9, fails to sanitize comment content, so an unauthenticated visitor can plant a stored mXSS payload that runs JavaScript in the browser of anyone who loads the affected page. The attack needs two coordinated comments and the Script Blocking feature turned on.","category":"package","nicknames":[],"who_cares":["wordpress","wpconsent","self-hosted"],"confidence":0.7,"needs_auth":"no","worst_case":"Attacker runs JavaScript in visitors' browsers on the affected site","analyst_note":"Confirm the patched version and whether a fix has shipped; the NVD entry at https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97640 gives no fixed release.","how_to_check":"- Check the installed WPConsent version in the WordPress plugins screen or `wp plugin get wpconsent --field=version`\n- Confirm whether the Script Blocking feature is enabled in the plugin settings\n- Check whether comments are open on pages that load the plugin","needs_analyst":true,"not_affected_if":["script-blocking-disabled","plugin-not-installed","comments-closed"],"who_is_affected":"WordPress sites running WPConsent 1.1.9 or earlier with the Script Blocking feature enabled and public comments accepted are exposed, because the injected script is stored and runs for later visitors. Sites without the plugin, with an older or newer version, or with Script Blocking off are not affected by this chain.","user_interaction":"yes","needs_special_setup":"yes","severity_if_unknown":"high"},"cost_usd":0.000705,"input_tokens":3580,"output_tokens":694,"severity_before":"high"},"analyst_status":null,"analyst_note":null,"search":"'-2026':12A,15A '-97640':13A,16A '1':210C '1.1.9':34B,121C 'abbr':197C 'access':150C 'affect':61B 'allow':183C,196C 'anyon':57B 'arbitrari':139C 'attack':64B,136C,170C 'attribut':199C 'banner':3A,78C 'block':72B,158C 'browser':55B 'bypass':10A 'ccpa':85C 'chain':166C 'code':184C 'comment':5A,38B,68B,102C,174C 'complianc':83C,87C 'confirm':204C 'consent':26B,80C 'content':39B,103C 'cooki':2A,25B,77C,79C,88C 'coordin':67B,173C 'cross':98C 'cross-sit':97C 'cve':11A,14A 'debug':209C 'depend':167C 'determinist':190C 'dom':107C 'due':122C 'element':185C 'embed':176C 'enabl':162C 'escap':129C 'eu':86C 'event':178C 'event-handl':177C 'execut':146C 'exploit':165C 'fail':35B 'featur':73B,159C 'gdpr':84C 'handler':179C 'host':20B 'html':106C 'includ':33B,120C 'inject':138C,152C 'input':125C 'insid':181C,194C 'insuffici':124C 'javascript':52B 'key':111C,193C,202C 'load':59B 'make':131C 'mxss':8A,48B,113C 'need':65B 'nois':110C,191C 'noise-key':109C 'notic':89C 'offset':203C 'one':175C,187C 'output':128C 'packag':17B 'page':62B,143C,153C 'parser':108C 'payload':49B 'place':188C 'plant':45B 'plugin':4A,27B,90C 'possibl':133C 'privaci':82C 'request':211C 'requir':155C 'restor':112C,192C 'run':51B 'sanit':9A,37B,126C 'script':71B,100C,141C,157C 'self':19B 'self-host':18B 'simpl':105C 'site':99C 'store':47B,96C 'submit':171C 'syntax':180C 'titl':198C 'turn':74B 'two':66B,172C 'unauthent':42B,135C,207C 'user':149C 'version':116C 'via':7A,101C,104C,205C 'visitor':43B 'vulner':94C 'web':140C 'whenev':147C 'wordpress':21B,29B,92C 'wpconsent':1A,22B,24B,76C,208C 'xss':6A","nicknames":[],"mitigations":[],"who_affected":"WordPress sites running WPConsent 1.1.9 or earlier with the Script Blocking feature enabled and public comments accepted are exposed, because the injected script is stored and runs for later visitors. Sites without the plugin, with an older or newer version, or with Script Blocking off are not affected by this chain.","tier":"B","verified":{},"analyst_revisit_at":null,"first_public_at":"2026-10-16T07:17:14+00:00","kev":null,"cvss_vector":"CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N","cvss_by":"security@wordfence.com","poc_count":0,"sources":[{"source":"nvd","external_id":"CVE-2026-97640","url":"https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-97640","severity":null,"published_at":"2026-10-16T07:17:14+00:00","modified_at":"2026-10-16T15:17:38+00:00","first_seen_at":"2026-10-23T21:57:12+00:00","fetched_at":"2026-10-23T22:28:55+00:00","note":null}],"documents":[],"notice":"Free to read at a human pace. An API with keys and an MCP server are in preparation; early access: hello@infrastack.ai"}