Medium severity · published Oct 16, 2026
CVE-2026-100159
Popup Box 6.4.1 - 6.4.2 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Shortcode Execution via Client-IP / X-Forwarded-For HTTP Headers
4.8
CVSS
0.3%
EPSS
No
On KEV
Description
The Popup Box plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Shortcode Execution in versions 6.4.1 to 6.4.2. This is due to the ays_popup_get_user_ip() function reading the client-controlled Client-IP / X-Forwarded-For / Forwarded / X-Forwarded / Forwarded-For request headers, sanitizing them only with sanitize_text_field() (which does not strip the bracket, quote, space, or '=' characters used by shortcode syntax), substituting the value into a popup body wherever the %%user_ip_address%% token appears (a raw str_replace with no escaping in Ays_Pb_Data::replace_message_variables()), and then passing the resulting body to do_shortcode() in Ays_Pb_Public::ays_autoembed() at output on the wp_footer hook. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary registered shortcodes with attacker-supplied attributes on the server whenever an administrator has added the %%user_ip_address%% token to a popup's Custom Content body, which can be leveraged to read arbitrary data or perform other actions exposed by shortcodes installed on the site.
CVSS vector
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
High
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None
Scope
Unchanged
Exploitation
Is it being used?
Exploit prediction (EPSS)0.3% · higher than 18% of CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo evidence yet
CISA KEVNot listed
Ransomware campaign useNot known
Affected products
Which versions
PB
Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups · ays-pro
6.4.1 through 6.4.2 · source: vendor
Affected product
PB
Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups
ays-pro
References
NVD
https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-100159
CVE.org
https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-100159
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/includes/class-ays-pb-data.php#L79
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/public/class-ays-pb-public.php#L3389
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/public/partials/ays-pb-public-templates.php#L4299
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/public/partials/ays-pb-public-templates.php#L4560
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/public/partials/ays-pb-public-templates.php#L69
plugins.trac.wordpress.org
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.3/public/class-ays-pb-public.php
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