# CVE-2026-53674: BuddyPress regex injection in activity mention resolver

Source: https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-53674-buddypress-regex-injection-in-activity-mention-resolver  
Publisher: Junglewise Threat Intelligence, https://junglewise.ai/threats  
Published: 2026-06-10. Updated: 2026-06-10  
License: CC BY 4.0 with a link back

CVE-2026-53674 · Severity: high · CVSS 7.1 · Published 2026-06-10

BuddyPress, a popular social networking plugin for WordPress, contains a security flaw in how it handles user mentions (e.g., @username). When a specific compatibility setting is enabled, attackers can use special characters in mentions to probe for private usernames or crash the website's database. This could lead to a loss of privacy for site members or a total service outage for the community platform.

Technologies: [BuddyPress](https://junglewise.ai/threats/technologies/buddypress). Vendors: [BuddyPress](https://junglewise.ai/threats/vendors/buddypress).

## Quick answers

**Is CVE-2026-53674 exploited in the wild?** No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-53674 being exploited in the wild.

**How severe is CVE-2026-53674?** High severity, with a CVSS score of 7.1, published 10 June 2026.

**Which products and versions are affected?** BuddyPress 14.4.0.

**Is there a fix for CVE-2026-53674?** 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-2026-53674 attacked?** It is attacked over the network, in a software library.

**Am I affected by CVE-2026-53674?** Check whether you run BuddyPress 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

A regular expression (regex) injection vulnerability exists in the BuddyPress activity mention resolver component. When 'username compatibility mode' is active, the plugin fails to properly sanitize regex metacharacters in @mentions before they are passed to an 'esc_sql' function and subsequently used in a REGEXP database query. An authenticated attacker can exploit this by crafting mentions that trigger catastrophic backtracking, leading to a Denial of Service (DoS) via database CPU exhaustion. Additionally, the flaw allows for boolean-based inference to discover valid usernames that might otherwise be hidden. The vulnerability is present in version 14.4.0.

## Affected products

- BuddyPress BuddyPress 14.4.0

## Timeline

- 2026-06-10: disclosed: CVE published to NVD dataset

## References

- [https://buddypress.org/](https://buddypress.org/)
- [https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/](https://wordpress.org/plugins/buddypress/)
- [https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/buddypress-regexp-injection-via-mention-username-resolution](https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/buddypress-regexp-injection-via-mention-username-resolution)

## Related threats

- [BuddyPress plugin SQL injection](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-115965-improper-neutralization-of-special-elements-used-in-an-sql)
- [BuddyPress SQL injection](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-111850-improper-neutralization-of-special-elements-used-in-an-sql)
- [BuddyPress insecure direct object reference in notifications](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2024-12145-buddypress-insecure-direct-object-reference-in-notifications)
- [BuddyPress IDOR in private messaging endpoints](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-8155-buddypress-idor-in-private-messaging-endpoints)
- [BuddyPress WordPress plugin PHP object injection in XProfile fields](https://junglewise.ai/threats/cve-2026-1360-buddypress-wordpress-plugin-php-object-injection-in-xprofile)