CVE-2026-23979
Published: 25 March 2026
Summary
CVE-2026-23979 is a high-severity Cross-site Scripting (CWE-79) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 7.1 (High).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 14.4th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-15 (Information Output Filtering) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).
Deeper analysis
CVE-2026-23979 is an Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerability, classified as Reflected Cross-site Scripting (XSS) under CWE-79, in the Gyan Elements WordPress plugin developed by Softwebmedia. The issue affects all versions of the gyan-elements plugin from n/a through 2.2.1 inclusive.
The vulnerability carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 7.1 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:L), indicating network accessibility, low attack complexity, no required privileges, and user interaction such as clicking a malicious link. Remote attackers without authentication can exploit it to inject and execute arbitrary scripts in the victim's browser context, achieving low impacts on confidentiality, integrity, and availability with a changed scope.
Mitigation details are documented in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/gyan-elements/vulnerability/wordpress-gyan-elements-plugin-2-2-1-reflected-cross-site-scripting-xss-vulnerability?_s_id=cve, which covers the Reflected XSS in Gyan Elements version 2.2.1.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-15551
Vulnerability details
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in Softwebmedia Gyan Elements gyan-elements allows Reflected XSS.This issue affects Gyan Elements: from n/a through <= 2.2.1.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI
Why these techniques?
Reflected XSS in public-facing WordPress plugin directly enables exploitation of web application (T1190) and arbitrary JavaScript execution in browser (T1059.007).
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
SI-15 requires filtering of information outputs to prevent the reflection of unneutralized malicious inputs as executable scripts in web pages generated by the Gyan Elements plugin.
SI-10 enforces validation of user inputs, reducing the risk of reflected XSS by rejecting or sanitizing malicious payloads targeting the plugin.
SI-2 mandates identification and remediation of flaws, directly addressing this XSS vulnerability through patching affected Gyan Elements versions up to 2.2.1.