XSS in Litespeedtech Litespeed Cache
CVE-2026-18978
The LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Content in all versions up to, and including, 7.8.1 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. A comment payload crafted exclusively from decimal numeric character references (e.g. ", <, >) placed inside an allowed element such as <code> bypasses WordPress's wp_kses sanitization, as kses does not treat a data-settings="..." substring within text content as an HTML attribute, allowing the malicious payload to reach the vulnerable function. For this to be exploitable, the site must allow users with previously approved comments to write new comments, and the require_name_email setting must be disabled.
Vulnerability class: XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)
EPSS: 0.003 (19.3th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 7.2 (High). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.
Affected products
Weakness classification (CWE)
References
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2026-18978?
- CVE-2026-18978 is a high-severity vulnerability in Litespeedtech Litespeed Cache, classified under Cross-site Scripting. CVSS score: 7.2/10. Published 2026-08-28.
- How severe is CVE-2026-18978?
- High severity. CVSS v3 base score is 7.2 out of 10.