Wp Social: Stored XSS through avatar metadata
The Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Avatar Alt Attribute via Arbitrary User Meta Write in all versions up to, and including, 3.2.1 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. This requires the attacker to chain two steps: invoking the nonce-only dismiss_ajax_call endpoint (nonce accessible to Subscribers via any wp-admin page) to set the xs_social_profile_image meta flag on their own account, which activates the unescaped img output branch in xs_social_get_avatar, and then setting their display name to a script payload that core's ENT_NOQUOTES handling preserves unescaped. The official changelog confirms the fixed release as 3.2.2.
- Component
- Wp Social Login and Register Social Counter
- Plugin slug
wp-social- Affected
- <= 3.2.1
- Safe version
3.2.2- Published
- Oct 03, 2026
This CVE was published Oct 03, 2026 and is one of 4 known issues for this plugin.
Update, patch or deactivate.
Update Wp Social to 3.2.2 or a later supported release. An application-level fix should restrict dismiss_ajax_call to authorized metadata keys and escape display names in the avatar alt attribute; a nonce alone is not authorization.
A safe version is available, so updating to that version or later is the preferred remediation. If an immediate update is not practical, consider a targeted application patch or temporarily restricting the affected functionality.
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 Social Login and Register Social Counter plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Avatar Alt Attribute via Arbitrary User Meta Write in all versions up to, and including, 3.2.1 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. This requires the attacker to chain two steps: invoking the nonce-only dismiss_ajax_call endpoint (nonce accessible to Subscribers via any wp-admin page) to set the xs_social_profile_image meta flag on their own account, which activates the unescaped img output branch in xs_social_get_avatar, and then setting their display name to a script payload that core's ENT_NOQUOTES handling preserves unescaped.
CVE / CNA vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N