CVE-2026-96561
AI Engine <= 3.8.0 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'model_' Parameter → PHP Error-Log Injection → Advisor Indirect Prompt Injection
Description
The AI Engine – The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting in versions up to, and including, 3.8.0 This is due to a chain of missing input neutralization and output escaping across the /mwai-ui/v1/chats/submit REST endpoint, the PHP error-log parser (MeowKit_MWAI_Helpers::php_error_logs), the Advisor task (Meow_MWAI_Modules_Advisor::run_advisor), and the Advisor dashboard widget (advisor_metabox): the server-parameter denylist in chat_submit strips only exact key names such as 'model' while convert_keys() later canonicalizes 'model_' back to 'model', allowing an unauthenticated caller to place an attacker-controlled string (including CR/LF) into $query->model; final_checks() throws an Exception whose message embeds that raw string, and the non-streaming, non-admin catch branch writes it to the PHP error log unmodified — creating a forged log line that the plugin's own parser subsequently returns as recent PHP-error content; run_advisor() then appends that content verbatim to the AI prompt (indirect prompt injection — CWE-1427), the returned JSON is stored in the mwai_advisor_data option with no schema validation or HTML sanitization, and advisor_metabox() concatenates the resulting 'title' and 'description' values directly into the WordPress dashboard widget without esc_html(), wp_kses(), or equivalent escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever an administrator accesses the WordPress dashboard.
INFO
Published Date :
Oct. 1, 2026, 4:18 a.m.
Last Modified :
Oct. 1, 2026, 4:18 a.m.
Remotely Exploit :
Yes !
Source :
[email protected]
Affected Products
The following products are affected by CVE-2026-96561
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
| Score | Version | Severity | Vector | Exploitability Score | Impact Score | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | MITRE-CVE | ||||
| CVSS 3.1 | HIGH | [email protected] |
Solution
- Update The AI Engine plugin to version 3.8.1 or later.
- Apply input validation and output escaping to user-provided data.
- Sanitize all data stored in plugin options.
- Ensure proper HTML escaping before rendering user content.
References to Advisories, Solutions, and Tools
Here, you will find a curated list of external links that provide in-depth
information, practical solutions, and valuable tools related to
CVE-2026-96561.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration
While CVE identifies
specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or
weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-96561 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-2026-96561
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-2026-96561 vulnerability anywhere in the article.
The following table lists the changes that have been made to the
CVE-2026-96561 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.
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New CVE Received by [email protected]
Oct. 01, 2026
Action Type Old Value New Value Added Description The AI Engine – The Chatbot, AI Framework & MCP for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting in versions up to, and including, 3.8.0 This is due to a chain of missing input neutralization and output escaping across the /mwai-ui/v1/chats/submit REST endpoint, the PHP error-log parser (MeowKit_MWAI_Helpers::php_error_logs), the Advisor task (Meow_MWAI_Modules_Advisor::run_advisor), and the Advisor dashboard widget (advisor_metabox): the server-parameter denylist in chat_submit strips only exact key names such as 'model' while convert_keys() later canonicalizes 'model_' back to 'model', allowing an unauthenticated caller to place an attacker-controlled string (including CR/LF) into $query->model; final_checks() throws an Exception whose message embeds that raw string, and the non-streaming, non-admin catch branch writes it to the PHP error log unmodified — creating a forged log line that the plugin's own parser subsequently returns as recent PHP-error content; run_advisor() then appends that content verbatim to the AI prompt (indirect prompt injection — CWE-1427), the returned JSON is stored in the mwai_advisor_data option with no schema validation or HTML sanitization, and advisor_metabox() concatenates the resulting 'title' and 'description' values directly into the WordPress dashboard widget without esc_html(), wp_kses(), or equivalent escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever an administrator accesses the WordPress dashboard. Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/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/2026/96xxx/CVE-2026-96561.json">CVE-2026-96561</a> Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/engines/core.php#L533 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/modules/advisor.php#L156 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/modules/advisor.php#L162 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/modules/advisor.php#L216 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/modules/chatbot.php#L122 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/modules/chatbot.php#L299 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/modules/chatbot.php#L597 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/query/base.php#L360 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/classes/rest.php#L464 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ai-engine/tags/3.8.0/common/helpers.php#L251 Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=%2Fai-engine%2Ftags%2F3.8.0&new_path=%2Fai-engine%2Ftags%2F3.8.1 Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/910e51da-6ee2-45d5-837b-7fea80f79390?source=cve