WP Popular Posts: Sensitive information exposure
The WP Popular Posts plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 7.4.2 via the 'context' parameter. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to extract sensitive edit-context fields — including raw title, raw content body, password, meta, status, and guid — from non-public post objects such as wp_block synced patterns that WordPress core itself refuses to expose to unauthenticated callers. This is possible because the plugin's REST route is registered with a permission_callback of __return_true and passes the caller-supplied context parameter (e.g., context=edit) directly to WP_REST_Posts_Controller::prepare_item_for_response() without invoking get_item_permissions_check() or check_read_permission(), while the underlying query accepts an arbitrary post_type value without enforcing public or show_in_rest visibility flags.
- Component
- WP Popular Posts
- Plugin slug
wordpress-popular-posts- Affected
- <= 7.4.2
- Safe version
- See mitigation notes
- Published
- Oct 01, 2026
This CVE was published Oct 01, 2026 and is one of 7 known issues for this plugin.
Update, patch or deactivate.
No confirmed fixed release is identified. Disable the affected feature or deactivate the component until an upstream fix is confirmed. Upstream 7.4.3 is available and may resolve this issue, but its changelog does not clearly establish a matching fix; it is not marked safe here. Enforce REST read permissions, public post-type visibility and allowed response contexts before preparing any post response.
No confirmed safe version is listed. Consider a vendor-supported patch or temporarily restricting the affected functionality while you assess the risk.
Deactivate only when warranted by your risk profile, or when advised by your hosting provider in the limited circumstances where the vulnerability cannot otherwise be mitigated. If you’re unsure which action is appropriate, contact Fused or your hosting provider for guidance.
Technical description
The WP Popular Posts plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Sensitive Information Exposure in all versions up to, and including, 7.4.2 via the 'context' parameter. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to extract sensitive edit-context fields — including raw title, raw content body, password, meta, status, and guid — from non-public post objects such as wp_block synced patterns that WordPress core itself refuses to expose to unauthenticated callers. This is possible because the plugin's REST route is registered with a permission_callback of __return_true and passes the caller-supplied context parameter (e.g., context=edit) directly to WP_REST_Posts_Controller::prepare_item_for_response() without invoking get_item_permissions_check() or check_read_permission(), while the underlying query accepts an arbitrary post_type value without enforcing public or show_in_rest visibility flags.
CVE / CNA vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:N/A:N
Primary and upstream sources
- NVD record for CVE-2026-92548
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- WordPress upstream reference plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- Wordfence advisory wordfence.com