6.1
MEDIUM CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-19985
Relevanssi <= 4.28.1 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting
Description

The Relevanssi – A Better Search plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting in versions up to, and including, 4.28.1 via the 's', 'post_types', and 'orderby' request parameters. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping in the relevanssi_debug_array() function in lib/debug.php, which dumps user-supplied query variables through print_r() inside a <pre> block without HTML escaping. The debug path is enabled by supplying the relevanssi_debug=on request parameter when the administrator has previously enabled the 'Debugging mode' setting; the gate itself is a configuration check with no capability, nonce, or logged-in check (the vendor explicitly suppresses nonce verification on that line). This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that execute if they can successfully trick a user into performing an action such as clicking on a specially crafted link.

INFO

Published Date :

Sept. 11, 2026, 4:17 a.m.

Last Modified :

Sept. 11, 2026, 4:17 a.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-19985 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

No affected product recoded yet

CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 MEDIUM [email protected]
Solution
Update Relevanssi plugin to patch Cross-Site Scripting vulnerability.
  • Update the Relevanssi plugin to the latest version.
  • Disable debugging mode if not actively needed.
  • Sanitize all user inputs.
  • Escape all outputs properly.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-19985 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-19985 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-19985 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-19985 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Sep. 11, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description The Relevanssi – A Better Search plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting in versions up to, and including, 4.28.1 via the 's', 'post_types', and 'orderby' request parameters. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping in the relevanssi_debug_array() function in lib/debug.php, which dumps user-supplied query variables through print_r() inside a <pre> block without HTML escaping. The debug path is enabled by supplying the relevanssi_debug=on request parameter when the administrator has previously enabled the 'Debugging mode' setting; the gate itself is a configuration check with no capability, nonce, or logged-in check (the vendor explicitly suppresses nonce verification on that line). This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that execute if they can successfully trick a user into performing an action such as clicking on a specially crafted link.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
    Added CWE CWE-79
    Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/19xxx/CVE-2026-19985.json">CVE-2026-19985</a>
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.27.2/lib/debug.php#L27
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.27.2/lib/debug.php#L68
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.27.2/lib/search.php#L132
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.27.2/lib/search.php#L143
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.27.2/lib/search.php#L562
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.1/lib/debug.php#L27
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.1/lib/debug.php#L68
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.1/lib/search.php#L132
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.1/lib/search.php#L143
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/relevanssi/tags/4.28.1/lib/search.php#L562
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&new=3650355%40relevanssi%2Ftrunk&old=3529670%40relevanssi%2Ftrunk&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=
    Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d07fe28c-f76e-42b2-b894-be316004235a?source=cve
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.