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YouTube Embed - Security Vulnerability (CVE-2026-88793)

CVE-2026-88793

The YouTube Embed WordPress plugin from 10.0 to 10.3 does not perform any authorisation check on one of its AJAX actions, relying only on a nonce it prints on every front-end page, and does not escape the stored data before rendering it, allowing unauthenticated attackers to store arbitrary web scripts which will execute in the session of any user viewing the affected content, including an administrator.

CVE-2026-88793

HIGH CVSS 8.8 Published 2026-09-13 Updated 2026-09-14
AI Risk High (84/100) Active Exploit: No strong signal Published Exploit: No public exploit references Priority: P2 Urgent
Severity Band HIGH
CVSS Vector CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Affected Components 2
Reference Links 1
AI Risk Engine High (84/100)
Exploitability High
Active Exploitation No strong signal
Published Exploit Status No public exploit references

Threat Timeline

  1. 2026-09-13 CVE published and first recorded in the threat feed.
  2. 2026-09-14 Record updated with latest vulnerability metadata.
  3. 2026-09-23 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 42 days ago

AI enriched 42 days ago (2026-09-23 09:04 UTC)

Technical Summary

The YouTube Embed WordPress plugin from 10.0 to 10.3 does not perform any authorisation check on one of its AJAX actions, relying only on a nonce it prints on every front-end page, and does not escape the stored data before rendering it, allowing unauthenticated attackers to store arbitrary web scripts which will execute in the session of any user viewing the affected content, including an administrator.

Potential Impact

Severity is HIGH (CVSS 8.8). Depending on deployment context, affected components may be exposed to unauthorized actions or data integrity risk.

Exploitability Assessment

Exploitability is assessed as High based on low-bar exploit prerequisites.

Primary risk drivers: low-bar exploit prerequisites

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

AI risk score 84/100 (High, High) with priority P2 Urgent. Prioritize remediation where affected components process customer data, admin sessions, or Internet-exposed workflows.

Affected Products

from 10 PLUGIN · from-10 Affected: >= 10.0, <= 10.3 Fixed version not specified
YouTube Embed PLUGIN · youtube-embed Affected: >= 10.0, <= 10.3 Fixed version not specified

References

What to do about this

Patch promptly The consequence is significant even where an attacker needs a foothold first.

Fix it

Update YouTube Embed 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 YouTube Embed, 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 YouTube Embed. No account is needed to exploit this, so a public site is reachable by anyone.

How do I fix it?

Update YouTube Embed 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.