Code injection in stellarwp The Events Calendar
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Code execution
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- High · High · High
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-94.
Summary
The The Events Calendar plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to, and including, 6.17.3 via the parse_array function. This is due to insufficient validation of the widget 'classes' map, allowing a plain-array payload to bypass the is_safe_widget_instance() object check and reach the callable-invocation sink in Element_Classes::parse_array(). This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute code on the server. Exploitation requires that the targeted site has comments enabled on tribe_events posts and that at least one comment containing a crafted wp:legacy-widget block has been submitted, as the attack chain is triggered when do_blocks() processes the single-event HTML including the comment area.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- Yes
- Technical impact
- Total
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
No fixed version listed by the sources yet.
Timeline
- 2026-10-02 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-78159
- 2026-10-03 Alias added: GHSA-9c57-9fxg-8x9j
References
Other 7
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/cc2ccfeb-6df6-4fee-96a5-94f8dd131f7c?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/common/src/Tribe/Utils/Element_Classes.php#L211
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/src/views/v2/components/messages.php#L30
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/src/Tribe/Views/V2/Widgets/Service_Provider.php#L279
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/src/Tribe/Views/V2/Template_Bootstrap.php#L214
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3667866%40the-events-calendar&new=3667866%40the-events-calendar
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3667867%40the-events-calendar&new=3667867%40the-events-calendar
More stellarwp vulnerabilities
- TI-2024-05498 Deserialization of untrusted data in stellarwp GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising… CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 10.0
- TI-2023-02655 BookIt <= 2.3.7 - Authentication Bypass CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-07671 The Events Calendar <= 6.6.4 - Unauthenticated SQL Injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-03888 The Events Calendar < 6.4.0.1 - Reflected XSS CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.1
- TI-2024-07745 GiveWP – Donation Plugin and Fundraising Platform <= 3.16.1 - Unauthenticated PHP Object Injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2024-04952 The Events Calendar < 6.8.2.1 - Unauthenticated Password Protected Event Disclosure CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
Sources
- CVE-2026-78159 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-78159 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-9c57-9fxg-8x9j · GitHub Advisory Database · CC BY 4.0
This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. Sources and licences