Executive brief
ProfilePress is a WordPress plugin for membership management and user profiles. The plugin fails to sanitize user-supplied data in profile fields before displaying them on public pages, allowing attackers to inject and execute WordPress shortcodes. This exposes sensitive user information including email addresses, usernames, and registration dates to anyone browsing the member directory or public profile pages.
Technical details
This is a stored shortcode injection vulnerability in ProfilePress before version 4.17.1. The plugin fails to strip or sanitize shortcode syntax from the Display Name and Nickname profile fields before rendering them on public-facing pages like the member directory. An unauthenticated attacker can register an account or inject a payload during checkout, store a malicious shortcode (e.g., [profile-email], [profile-username], [profile-date-registered]) in their display name, and when other users view the member directory, the stored shortcodes execute server-side and leak sensitive data about arbitrary users. Attack vectors include registration on sites with "Anyone can register" enabled, or unauth submission via the membership checkout form with a valid plan nonce. Patches are available in version 4.17.1 and later.
Affected products
- ProfilePress ProfilePress before 4.17.1
Timeline
- 2026-08-19: disclosed
- 2026-08-21: patched: Fixed in version 4.17.1