CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-96752NVD status: Deferred

Zero Spam for WordPress: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-96752 is a high-severity improper neutralization of input during web page generation vulnerability in Zero Spam for WordPress from Bmarshall511, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 7.2 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Zero Spam for WordPress versions: 5.7.10 and earlier. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 0.24% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is low compared with other CVEs.

Next patch cycle

High severity with no evidence of exploitation so far.

What to do

  1. Check which version of Zero Spam for WordPress you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
Bmarshall511Zero Spam for WordPress5.7.10 and earlierNot stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
ChangedThe attack can reach beyond the vulnerable component into other systems.
Confidentiality
LowSome restricted data can be read.
Integrity
LowLimited modification of data is possible.
Availability
NoneAvailability is not affected.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N. Scored by CNA (wordfence.com).

Official description

The Zero Spam for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Nested POST Array Keys via Contact Form 7 Integration in all versions up to, and including, 5.7.10 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. The payload is delivered by submitting a Contact Form 7 request with a nested POST array key containing arbitrary HTML or JavaScript — PHP parses the field name into a nested array key, which is stored verbatim in the zerospam_log.submission_data column when Zero Spam flags the submission as spam due to the absence of the zerospam_david_walsh_key field.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation

The product does not neutralize or incorrectly neutralizes user-controllable input before it is placed in output that is used as a web page that is served to other users.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Use a vetted library or framework that does not allow this weakness to occur or provides constructs that make this weakness easier to avoid. Examples of libraries and frameworks that make it easier to generate properly encoded output include Microsoft's Anti-XSS library, the OWASP ESAPI Encoding module, and Apache Wicket.
  • Understand all the potential areas where untrusted inputs can enter your software: parameters or arguments, cookies, anything read from the network, environment variables, reverse DNS lookups, query results, request headers, URL components, e-mail, files, filenames, databases, and any external systems that provide data to the application. Remember that such inputs may be obtained indirectly through API calls.
  • For any security checks that are performed on the client side, ensure that these checks are duplicated on the server side, in order to avoid CWE-602. Attackers can bypass the client-side checks by modifying values after the checks have been performed, or by changing the client to remove the client-side checks entirely. Then, these modified values would be submitted to the server.

More Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerabilities (CWE-79)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: partial).

References

Recent Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation vulnerabilities

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