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Search Exclude - Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) (CVE-2022-36282)

CVE-2022-36282

Vulnerability CVE-2022-36282 PLUGIN search-exclude MEDIUM

Authenticated (editor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Roman Pronskiy's Search Exclude plugin

CVE-2022-36282

MEDIUM CVSS 4.8 Published 2022-08-23 Updated 2024-11-21
AI Risk Moderate (42/100) Active Exploit: No strong signal Published Exploit: No public exploit references Priority: P4 Planned
Severity Band MEDIUM
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Affected Components 1
Reference Links 2
AI Risk Engine Moderate (42/100)
Exploitability Low
Active Exploitation No strong signal
Published Exploit Status No public exploit references

Threat Timeline

  1. 2022-08-23 CVE published and first recorded in the threat feed.
  2. 2024-11-21 Record updated with latest vulnerability metadata.
  3. 2026-04-09 AI technical context refreshed for mitigation and impact guidance.
  4. Now Monitoring for follow-up changes, linked references, and new related CVEs.

AI Context

Machine-generated threat intelligence

AI Updated 153 days ago

AI enriched 153 days ago (2026-04-09 08:48 UTC)

Technical Summary

Authenticated (editor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in Roman Pronskiy's Search Exclude plugin

Potential Impact

Severity is MEDIUM (CVSS 4.8). Depending on deployment context, affected components may be exposed to unauthorized actions or data integrity risk.

Exploitability Assessment

Exploitability is assessed as Low based on severity and technical exposure profile.

Primary risk drivers: severity and technical exposure profile

Mitigation Recommendations

Validate affected product versions, prioritize patching, and monitor references for vendor remediation guidance. If immediate patching is not possible, apply compensating controls and limit exposure of vulnerable surfaces.

Detection & Monitoring

Track authentication anomalies, unexpected file writes, and suspicious plugin API activity around affected components.

Business Impact Lens

Prioritize remediation where affected components process customer data, admin sessions, or Internet-exposed workflows.

Affected Products

Search Exclude PLUGIN · search-exclude Affected: <= 1.2.6 Fixed version not specified

References

What to do about this

Patch on your next cycle Worth fixing, but not ahead of other work.

Fix it

Update Search Exclude to the latest available version.

Where the vendor has not published a fix yet, disable the plugin until they do.

Cannot update today? Request / payload inspection (WAF) in Hack Halt ProSecure blocks this class of attack before WordPress processes the request.

Inspect request parameters and bodies for injection, traversal and file-inclusion payloads, and refuse the request rather than logging it.

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Not sure if you are affected?

Scan your site to see whether it runs Search Exclude, and at which version.

Free, no installation, no account. It reads what your site already publishes, then tells you which plugins carry known vulnerabilities and what to do about each one.

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Am I affected by this vulnerability?

You are affected if your site runs Search Exclude.

How do I fix it?

Update Search Exclude to the latest available version. Where the vendor has not yet published a fix, remove or disable the plugin until they do. Until you can update, Request / payload inspection (WAF) in Hack Halt ProSecure contains this class of attack at the request layer.

What can an attacker actually do?

This is a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) flaw. An attacker who exploits it can run script in a visitor's browser, stealing sessions or planting an administrator account.

WordPress security that blocks attacks before they land.

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