Quick answers
- Is CVE-2026-16593 exploited in the wild?
- No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-16593 being exploited in the wild.
- How severe is CVE-2026-16593?
- Medium severity, with a CVSS score of 6.8, published 15 September 2026.
- Which products and versions are affected?
- WP Directory Kit through 1.5.7.
- Is there a fix for CVE-2026-16593?
- No fixed version is recorded yet. Check the vendor's advisory in the references below. If you run it, Junglewise drafts a mitigation that fits your setup and applies it once you approve, with senior security engineers behind it.
- How is CVE-2026-16593 attacked?
- It is attacked over the network, in a software library.
- Am I affected by CVE-2026-16593?
- Check whether you run WP Directory Kit at an affected version. Junglewise does that check for you around the clock: connect your code, cloud and domains, and it matches new vulnerabilities like this one against what you actually run and tells you when one reaches you.
Technical details
The vulnerability is a time-based blind SQL injection (CWE-89) in the Categories and Locations widget settings, specifically in the Order By and Order Direction fields. The plugin fails to sanitize and escape widget settings before using them in SQL queries. The attack requires an authenticated user with page builder access (Editor role or above) and Elementor active. An attacker can inject SQL expressions through raw JSON widget configuration, bypassing client-side validation. When the page is rendered by any visitor, the injected SQL executes, enabling boolean-based and time-based data exfiltration of arbitrary database contents. No patch has been released as of the advisory date.
Affected products
- WP Directory Kit WP Directory Kit through 1.5.7
Timeline
- 2026-09-12: disclosed: Publicly disclosed
- 2026-09-05: other: Added to vulnerability databases