Stored cross-site scripting in Relevanssi WordPress search plugin
Key facts
- Attack vector
- Network
- Privileges required
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Attack complexity
- Low
- Impact type
- Cross-site scripting
- Confidentiality · integrity · availability
- Low · Low · None
- Fix status
- No fix listed
Attack profile from CVSS 3.1 · CNA. Fix status from CNA. Impact type from CWE-79.
Summary
The Relevanssi (A Better Search) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to stored cross-site scripting in all versions up to and including 4.28.5. Insufficient input sanitization and output escaping of comment content (CWE-79) let an unauthenticated attacker inject web scripts into pages that run when a user visits an injected page. This requires both comment indexing and the highlight option to be enabled.
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05
Description from the CNA
The Relevanssi – A Better Search plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'comment' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 4.28.5 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 site to have both the comment indexing and comment highlighting options enabled, and the payload only fires when a visitor reaches a singular page via a Relevanssi search-result permalink carrying the highlight query parameter.
Why it matters now
SSVC decision points
CISA ADP · SSVC 2.0.3
- Exploitation
- None
- Automatable
- No
- Technical impact
- Partial
The decision (Track, Attend, Act) also depends on your mission and well-being impact; see CISA's SSVC guide.
Affected products
Remediation
The sources list no fixed version for Relevanssi (A Better Search).
Written with Claude Haiku 5.5 from the sources below · 2026-11-05
Timeline
- 2026-10-31 Threatist record created from CVE-2026-116522
- 2026-10-31 Alias added: GHSA-cqrq-24rf-5fg8
- 2026-11-01 Priority changed: MEDIUM → LOW
- 2026-11-01 CISA SSVC decision points changed
References
Other 8
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/442403ae-9011-4373-a363-e98e07ec7e9b?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.5/lib/excerpts-highlights.php#L521
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.5/lib/excerpts-highlights.php#L688
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.5/lib/excerpts-highlights.php#L1698
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.5/lib/init.php#L140
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.5/lib/common.php#L1037
- https://github.com/msaari/relevanssi/commit/b0324957b27e2dfc2aa116c96dcf578fbec9e0e5
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&new=3767703%40relevanssi%2Ftags%2F4.28.6&old=3761637%40relevanssi%2Ftags%2F4.28.5
More comesio vulnerabilities
- TI-2023-06585 Relevanssi (Free < 4.22.0, Premium < 2.25.0) - Unauthenticated Private/Draft Post Disclosure CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
- TI-2024-01287 Missing authorization in comesio Relevanssi Premium CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.3
- TI-2024-08374 Relevanssi < 4.23.1 - Contributor+ Stored XSS CVSS 3.1MEDIUM 5.4
- TI-2024-03012 Relevanssi – A Better Search <= 4.22.1 - Unauthenticated Second Order CSV Injection CVSS 3.1CRITICAL 9.8
- TI-2025-03923 Relevanssi <= 4.24.4 (Free) and <= 2.27.5 (Premium) - Unauthenticated SQL Injection CVSS 3.1HIGH 7.5
- TI-2024-03011 Relevanssi – A Better Search <= 4.22.1 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Count Option Update CVSS 3.1HIGH 8.2
Sources
- CVE-2026-116522 · CVE Program
- CVE-2026-116522 · NVD
- FIRST EPSS
- GHSA-cqrq-24rf-5fg8 · 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