CriticalCVE-2026-60137

    WordPress < 7.0.2 - Facilitated SQL Injection via author__not_in in WP_Query (CVE-2026-60137)

    Published Last modified In CISA KEV since Sources: NCSC NZ, pwn.watch, BSI, OSV, CVE.org, Debian

    What is affected, what to do

    WordPress 6.8.x before 6.8.6, 6.9.x before 6.9.5, and 7.0.x before 7.0.2 does not properly sanitise the author__not_in parameter of WP_Query, which could allow SQL Injection when a plugin or theme passes untrusted input to the parameter.

    The vulnerability is being actively exploited; treat it as a priority. Update WordPress to version 6.8.6, WordPress to version 6.9.5, WordPress to version 7.0.2. Immediate actions, mitigation and detection rules are in the runbook below.

    Affected
    • WordPress lt 6.8.0..6.8.6
    • WordPress lt 6.9.0..6.9.5
    • WordPress lt 7.0.0..7.0.2
    Fixed in
    • WordPress 6.8.6
    • WordPress 6.9.5
    • WordPress 7.0.2

    Not sure whether and how you are affected? Ask a question about this vulnerability

    Metrics

    5.9

    Priority

    XIEM Effective CVSS: highest available CVSS rating from NVD and vendor data.

    Source: NVD, CVSS v3

    5.9

    CVSS v3

    Severity Medium on the scale from 0 to 10.

    Source: NCSC NZ, pwn.watch, BSI, OSV, CVE.org, Debian

    5.3 %

    EPSS score

    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.

    Source: FIRST EPSS, percentile 92.6

    Show all metrics
    Severity
    Critical
    Priority (0–325)

    The priority score is a consolidated metric that condenses several individual signals into a single, action-guiding ranking: technical severity (CVSS), exploitation likelihood (EPSS), known-exploited status (KEV) and the context of the affected asset. The aim is to answer the only truly important question in vulnerability management: what first?

    Read in glossary
    219.13 Methodology
    Exploit maturity

    An exploit is code or a technique that specifically uses a concrete vulnerability to force unintended behaviour — such as executing code or escalating privileges. It is the tool that turns a theoretical flaw into a practical attack.

    Read in glossary
    actively exploitedSource: VulnCheck KEV (opens in a new tab), ANSSI / CERT-FR, NCSC NZ How we classify
    XIEM Effective CVSS

    XIEM® is the tiered managed-security operating model from NEOSEC and a registered trademark of NEOSEC GmbH. It extends classic SIEM — the central collection, normalisation and correlation of security-relevant events — with endpoint forensics, network visibility and deception technology, and consolidates them into three building tiers: Sentry, Orchestrate and Command.

    Read in glossary
    5.9 Methodology
    CVSS v3

    CVSS is the globally established, open standard for assessing the technical severity of a vulnerability on a scale from 0 to 10. It describes how easily a flaw can be exploited and what damage it can cause — but not how likely its actual exploitation is. CVSS and the complementary EPSS deliberately answer different questions.

    Read in glossary
    5.9
    EPSS score

    The EPSS score is the absolute model output for an individual vulnerability: the estimated probability of real-world exploitation within the next 30 days, expressed as a value between 0 and 1 (i.e. 0 % to 100 %). A score of 0.42 means „the model estimates a 42 % chance of real-world exploitation within 30 days“.

    Read in glossary
    5.3 %
    Moderate — model estimates 1-10% exploitation likelihood.
    EPSS percentile

    The EPSS percentile is the relative position of a vulnerability within all EPSS-scored CVEs, expressed as a value between 0 and 1. A percentile of 0.90 means „this CVE has a higher EPSS score than 90 % of all other scored CVEs“. Unlike the EPSS score, it is not a probability — but a positioning within a ranking.

    Read in glossary
    92.6
    Critical — this CVE ranks in the top fifth of all CVEs scored today (rank ≥ 80%).
    KEV status

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited
    Published
    In CISA KEV since

    The KEV catalogue is a list maintained by the US authority CISA of vulnerabilities for which active exploitation in the wild has been confirmed. It answers not the question „how severe?“ but „is it already being attacked?“ — thereby sharply prioritising patching.

    Read in glossary

    Response and mitigation

    Why act now?

    Prioritisation rationale

    On its own, the injection needs a vulnerable plugin or theme and has high attack complexity. It still yields unauthenticated, full read access to the database. The KEV listing is driven mainly by the CISA-documented chain with CVE-2026-63030, which turns it into unauthenticated RCE on default installations. Exploitation likelihood is well above the norm for CVEs, and no ransomware use is recorded. Typical targets are widely deployed, often poorly maintained public websites that get mass-scanned automatically. For organisations running internet-facing WordPress, especially sites holding personal data (GDPR breach-notification exposure) or connected to internal systems, treat this as high priority and patch within 24 to 72 hours. Purely internal instances can follow on a lower priority.

    1. Runbook step 1

      Immediate response (0-24 h)

      • Patch now: Upgrade WordPress Core to 6.8.6, 6.9.5 or 7.0.2, depending on your release branch. Inventory all instances with wp core version and update via wp core update or the dashboard. Check whether automatic minor updates (WP_AUTO_UPDATE_CORE) have been disabled, since this is the usual reason sites lag behind.
      • Treat the CVE-2026-63030 chain together: CISA states the two flaws chain into unauthenticated RCE on default installs. Verify patch status for CVE-2026-63030 in the same change window and give it equal priority.
      • Internet-facing first: Enumerate every public WordPress site, including forgotten marketing, campaign and staging sites. Any instance that cannot be updated today goes behind a WAF or into maintenance mode.
      • Compromise check: Search recent web logs for author__not_in requests carrying anything other than integers (see Detection rules). Also look for newly created admin accounts (wp user list --role=administrator) and unexpected PHP files in wp-content/uploads/.
      • Rotate secrets if anything looks off: The flaw gives full read access to the database. Rotate all admin passwords, the DB password in wp-config.php, the auth keys/salts, and any API keys stored in wp_options (SMTP, payment, CDN).

    2. Runbook step 2

      Mitigation layers

      • WAF/reverse proxy: Restrict author__not_in in both the query string and the POST body to digits, commas and array syntax. A ModSecurity approach: SecRule ARGS_NAMES "@rx author__not_in" "id:1060137,phase:2,chain,deny" chained with SecRule ARGS:/author__not_in/ "!@rx ^[0-9,\s]*$". Apply an equivalent custom rule on cloud WAFs, covering /wp-json/ and admin-ajax.php.
      • Plugin/theme audit: The flaw is only reachable when an extension passes untrusted input into WP_Query. Run grep -rn "author__not_in" wp-content/ and flag any call site that forwards $_GET/$_POST/$request without absint or array_map('intval', …). Disable those extensions or get them fixed by the vendor.
      • Least-privilege database: The WordPress DB user should have rights to its own schema only, no FILE privilege, and secure_file_priv should be set. This kills INTO OUTFILE webshell drops and contains impact to the single site.
      • Application hardening: Set DISALLOW_FILE_EDIT, and where feasible DISALLOW_FILE_MODS, in wp-config.php. Block PHP execution in wp-content/uploads/ at the web-server level (nginx location ~* /uploads/.*\.php$ { deny all; }).
      • Segmentation: The database should be reachable from the web tier only, with TCP 3306 never exposed externally. Restrict web-server egress to required destinations (update servers, APIs) to hamper exfiltration and tool staging.

    3. Runbook step 3

      Detection rules

      • Web access logs: Look for author__not_in combined with SQL keywords. Example SPL: index=web uri_query="*author__not_in*" | regex uri_query="(?i)(union|select|sleep\(|benchmark\(|extractvalue|0x[0-9a-f]{6,})". Exploits may arrive via POST, so also review WAF logs with body inspection enabled.
      • Time-based blind SQLi: Watch for bursts of slow responses (request_time over 5 s) from a single source IP against REST or AJAX endpoints. This is the classic footprint of automated extraction against a high-complexity injection point.
      • Database telemetry: Check the MySQL/MariaDB error or slow-query logs for syntax errors, SLEEP(, UNION or information_schema access under the WordPress DB user.
      • Process ancestry (EDR/auditd), which signals a successful chain: Alert when php-fpm/apache2/httpd spawns sh, bash, curl, wget or python. A matching auditd rule: -a always,exit -F arch=b64 -S execve -F uid=33 -k web_exec. Sigma shape: ParentImage|endswith: php-fpm with Image|endswith: [/sh, /bash, /curl].
      • Integrity: Look for new .php files under wp-content/uploads/, new administrator users, and changes to siteurl or active_plugins in wp_options. Validate core files with wp core verify-checksums.

    Detection rules

    No NEOSEC detection rule is available for this vulnerability yet.

    Classification under NIS2 and CRA

    Rule-based classification from exploitation status and severity. It does not replace a case-by-case assessment.

    NIS2

    NIS2 is EU Directive (EU) 2022/2555 to raise the level of cybersecurity across the Union. It substantially broadens obligations compared with the first NIS directive: more sectors, mandatory risk management, staged reporting duties and personal accountability of senior management.

    Read in glossary
    Actively exploited: treat the vulnerability as a priority in vulnerability handling under Art. 21(2)(e) NIS2. If it is exploited in your environment, check the reporting obligation under Art. 23 (early warning within 24 hours).
    CRA

    The CRA is EU Regulation (EU) 2024/2847 setting horizontal cybersecurity requirements for „products with digital elements“ — from industrial controllers and software to connected consumer devices. For the first time manufacturers must ensure security across the entire product lifecycle, handle vulnerabilities and provide security updates.

    Read in glossary
    Since 11.09.2026, manufacturers of affected products with digital elements must report actively exploited vulnerabilities under Art. 14 CRA, with an early warning within 24 hours via ENISA's single reporting platform.
    ISO/IEC 27001

    ISO/IEC 27001 is the internationally leading standard for an information security management system (ISMS). It describes a risk-based, process-oriented framework to systematically plan, implement, review and improve information security.

    Read in glossary
    Control A.8.8, management of technical vulnerabilities: assess relevance to your systems, plan remediation and keep evidence.

    Description

    WordPress 6.8.x before 6.8.6, 6.9.x before 6.9.5, and 7.0.x before 7.0.2 does not properly sanitise the author__not_in parameter of WP_Query, which could allow SQL Injection when a plugin or theme passes untrusted input to the parameter.

    Source: NCSC NZ (CC BY 4.0), pwn.watch, BSI WID Portal, BSI CSAF, OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities), NVD (NIST), cvelistv5, CISA KEV Catalog, Debian Security Advisories

    Affected products

    The following versions are affected. Older releases of the same product line are also vulnerable unless stated otherwise.

    Affected products
    Affected versionsFixed in
    WordPressWordPress
    • 6.8.0 – < 6.8.6
    • 6.9.0 – < 6.9.5
    • 7.0.0 – < 7.0.2
    • 6.8.6
    • 6.9.5
    • 7.0.2
    wordpresswordpress
    • 7.0 – < 7.0.2
    • 6.9 – < 6.9.5
    • 6.8 – < 6.8.6
    • 7.0.2
    • 6.9.5
    • 6.8.6
    Open SourceWordPress
    • < 6.9.5
    • < 7.0.2
    • 6.9.5
    • 7.0.2
    Distribution and container packages (3)

    Downstream packages (e.g. Bitnami, Debian, Ubuntu, Red Hat). Versions refer to the distribution, not the vendor.

    Distribution and container packages
    Affected versionsFixed in
    bitnamiwordpress-multisite
    • 6.8.0
    • 7.0.0
    • 6.9.0
    • —
    • —
    • —

    Vendors and products

    Affected operating systems

    Affected operating systems
    Linuxdebianwordpresstrixie

    Public exploit references

    Publicly reported proof-of-concepts, exploit modules and detection templates for this vulnerability. NEOSEC links to the original sources only and does not provide any exploit code.

    Public exploit references
    CISA KEV CatalogCISA Known Exploited Vulnerability (opens in a new tab)cisa.govactively exploited
    NCSC NZCVE-2026-63030 and CVE-2026-60137 affecting WordPress (opens in a new tab)NCSC NZactively exploited
    ANSSI / CERT-FRLicence Ouverte 2.0, as of CERTFR-2026-ALE-007 – Multiples vulnérabilités dans WordPress (clôturée 2026-08-24) (opens in a new tab)cert.cyber.gouv.fractively exploited
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-60137-WordPress-Core-SQL-Injection-PoC (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-60137 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)Wp2shell-ioc-scanner (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)CVE-2026-60137-With-Skip-SSL (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)wp2shell-poc (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)Fix-CVE-2026-60137-CVE-2026-63030-in-wordpress (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)Ultimate-wp2shell (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)abdal-cve-2026-60137 (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)wp2shell-poc (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified
    PoC-in-GitHub (nomi-sec)wp2shell (opens in a new tab)github.comPoC (publicly reported)reported, not verified

    References & sources

    • github.comWordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-fpp7-x2x2-…web, Vulnerability database, Technical description
    • NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2026-60137web, pwn-watch
    • wordpress.orgWordPress Core — CVE-2026-60137web, Release notes, Vendor advisory, pwn-watch
    • cisa.govknown-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-60137web, government-resource
    • cert.atCERT.at: Kritische Sicherheitslücken in WordPress - Updates verfügbarcert-at
    • cert.cyber.gouv.frANSSI / CERT-FR: CERTFR-2026-ALE-007 – Multiples vulnérabilités dans WordPress (clôturée 2026-08-24)cert-fr
    • pwn.watchpwn.watch: WordPress Core: WordPress Core SQL Injection Vulnerabilitypwn-watch
    • NVD (NIST)NVD: CVE-2026-63030pwn-watch
    • cisa.govCISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalogpwn-watch

    Changes to this CVE

    Who changed this CVE and when: NVD (analysis, affected products, CVSS), the CVE publisher (CNA) and additional providers such as CISA (ADP).

    1. NVD analysis modifiedNVD

    2. Record modifiedWPScan

      Show 6 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-fpp7-x2x2-2mjf
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://wordpress.org/news/2026/07/wordpress-7-0-2-release/
      Referenceremoved
      https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-fpp7-x2x2-2mjf
      —
      Referenceremoved
      https://wordpress.org/news/2026/07/wordpress-7-0-2-release/
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-fpp7-x2x2-2mjf Types: Vendor Advisory
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://wordpress.org/news/2026/07/wordpress-7-0-2-release/ Types: Release Notes
      —

      Source identifier: contact@wpscan.com

    3. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CVSS V3.1: before AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N, after —

      Show 4 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSremoved
      AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
      —
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-60137
      Referenceremoved
      https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-60137
      —
      Reference typeremoved
      https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-60137 Types: US Government Resource
      —

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    4. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: active, automatable: no

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      SSVC assessmentchanged
      {"id":"CVE-2026-60137","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"yes"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-07-21T15:45:09.401257Z"}
      {"id":"CVE-2026-60137","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"no"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-07-21T00:00:00+00:00"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    5. Initial analysis by NVDNVD

      Newly listed as affected:
      • WordPress (6.9 – before 6.9.5; 7.0 – before 7.0.2; 6.8 – before 6.8.6)
      Show 4 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Product configurationadded
      —
      OR *cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.9 up to (excluding) 6.9.5 *cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 7.0 up to (excluding) 7.0.2 *cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* versions from (including) 6.8 up to (excluding) 6.8.6
      Reference typeadded
      —
      WPScan: https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-fpp7-x2x2-2mjf Types: Vendor Advisory
      Reference typeadded
      —
      WPScan: https://wordpress.org/news/2026/07/wordpress-7-0-2-release/ Types: Release Notes
      Reference typeadded
      —
      CISA-ADP: https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-60137 Types: US Government Resource

      Source identifier: nvd@nist.gov

    Show 5 older changes

    1. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: active, automatable: yes

      Show 2 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog?field_cve=CVE-2026-60137
      SSVC assessmentchanged
      {"id":"CVE-2026-60137","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"yes"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-07-17T19:51:44.616319Z"}
      {"id":"CVE-2026-60137","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"active"},{"automatable":"yes"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-07-21T15:45:09.401257Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    2. CISA KEV entry updated9119a7d8…

      4 individual changes: Date Added, Due Date, Required Action, Vulnerability Name

      Show 4 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Date Addedadded
      —
      2026-07-21
      Due Dateadded
      —
      2026-07-21
      Required Actionadded
      —
      2026-07-21
      Vulnerability Nameadded
      —
      2026-07-21

      Source identifier: 9119a7d8-5eab-497f-8521-727c672e3725

    3. Record modifiedWPScan

      CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

      Show the original change
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

      Source identifier: contact@wpscan.com

    4. ReceivedWPScan

      Description added or changed

      Show 4 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      Affected versions (publisher)added
      —
      WordPress
      Descriptionadded
      —
      WordPress 6.8.x before 6.8.6, 6.9.x before 6.9.5, and 7.0.x before 7.0.2 does not properly sanitise the author__not_in parameter of WP_Query, which could allow SQL Injection when a plugin or theme passes untrusted input to the parameter.
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-fpp7-x2x2-2mjf
      Referenceadded
      —
      https://wordpress.org/news/2026/07/wordpress-7-0-2-release/

      Source identifier: contact@wpscan.com

    5. Record modifiedCISA ADP

      CVSS V3.1: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

      CISA assessment (SSVC): exploitation: none known, automatable: yes

      Weakness type: CWE-89

      Show 3 original changes
      Individual changes of this event as published by NVD
      TypeActionBeforeAfter
      CVSSadded
      —
      AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N
      Weakness type (CWE)added
      —
      CWE-89
      SSVC assessmentadded
      —
      {"id":"CVE-2026-60137","role":"CISA Coordinator","options":[{"exploitation":"none"},{"automatable":"yes"},{"technicalImpact":"total"}],"version":"2.0.3","timestamp":"2026-07-17T19:51:44.616319Z"}

      Source identifier: 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0

    Linked advisories

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    Badge preview for CVE-2026-60137
    <a href="https://intel.neosec.eu/en/cve/CVE-2026-60137"><img src="https://intel.neosec.eu/badge/cve/CVE-2026-60137.svg?lang=en" alt="CVE-2026-60137 – NEOSEC Intel" height="20"></a>