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HighPublic exploit

Stored XSS in Anti-Spam by CleanTalk WordPress Plugin Email-Encoding Shortcode

IdentifiersCVE-2026-8071CWE-79· Improper Neutralization of Input…

CVE-2026-8071 is a stored cross-site scripting vulnerability in the Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Spam protection WordPress plugin before version 6.79. The issue is caused by improper sanitization of content processed within a custom shortcode used by the plugin’s email-encoding feature. An unauthenticated attacker can place arbitrary script content into comments; once the comment is approved and rendered in a post, the malicious payload executes in the browser of any user viewing that post, including administrators.

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ANALYST BRIEF

Impact, mitigation & remediation

What it means. What to do now. Patch path, mitigations, and the assume-compromise checklist.

Impact

What an attacker gets, and what they’ve been doing with it.

Successful exploitation results in stored JavaScript execution in victims’ browsers when they view a post containing the approved malicious comment. This can enable session theft, nonce theft, unauthorized actions performed in the victim’s context, defacement of rendered content, and other browser-based compromise impacts affecting site visitors and privileged WordPress users such as administrators.

Mitigation

If you can’t patch tonight, do this now.

If immediate patching is not possible, disable the vulnerable plugin feature related to the custom email-encoding shortcode or disable the plugin entirely until it can be updated. Restrict or harden comment submission and approval workflows, closely moderate comments before approval, and deploy compensating controls such as a web application firewall and CSP where feasible to reduce script execution risk. Also review existing approved comments for malicious shortcode content and remove any suspicious entries.

Remediation

Patch, then assume compromise.

Update the Anti-Spam by CleanTalk. Spam protection WordPress plugin to version 6.79 or later, which is the first version indicated as not affected. Review and remove malicious comments that may already contain injected payloads, especially approved comments. After patching, inspect site content and moderation queues for abuse of the plugin’s email-encoding shortcode and rotate credentials or invalidate sessions if administrator exposure is suspected.
PUBLIC EXPLOITS

Exploits

No public exploits tracked yet. Mallory keeps watching.

VALID 0 / 0 TOTALView more in app

No public exploit code observed for this vulnerability.

ACTIVITY FEED

Recent activity

6 sources tracked across advisories, community write-ups, and news. New activity surfaces here as Mallory finds it.

6 SOURCESView more in app
What this page doesn’t show

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Exposure mapping

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Threat actor evidence

Every observed campaign linking this CVE to a named adversary.

Associated malware

Malware families riding this exploit, with evidence and IOCs.

Detection signatures

YARA, Sigma, Snort, and vendor rules, auto-deployed to your SIEM.

Vendor-by-vendor mapping

Cross-references every affected SKU, including bundled OEM variants.

Social activity5

Community discussion across Reddit, Mastodon, and other social sources.

EXTERNAL REFERENCES
MITRE CVE
cve.org · CVE-2026-8071
NVD
nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-8071
MITRE CWE · CWE-79
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web…
wpscan.com
wpscan.com/vulnerability/0d4635b5-2d79-4337-a1ad-6b8d02cfd64b