Is CVE-2026-78159 exploited in the wild?

No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-78159 being exploited in the wild.

How severe is CVE-2026-78159?

Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.8, published 12 September 2026.

Which products and versions are affected?

Modern Tribe The Events Calendar up to and including 6.17.3.

Is there a fix for CVE-2026-78159?

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-2026-78159 attacked?

It is attacked over the network.

Am I affected by CVE-2026-78159?

Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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.

CVE-2026-78159: The Events Calendar Remote Code Execution via parse_array

CVE-2026-78159 · Severity: critical · CVSS 9.8 · Published 2026-09-12

The Events Calendar is a popular WordPress plugin that manages event scheduling and display. This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary code on websites running vulnerable versions, provided comments are enabled on event posts and a malicious comment has been submitted. Exploitation could lead to full site compromise, data theft, and server takeover.

Quick answers

Is CVE-2026-78159 exploited in the wild?: No. Junglewise Threat Intelligence has no report of CVE-2026-78159 being exploited in the wild.
How severe is CVE-2026-78159?: Critical severity, with a CVSS score of 9.8, published 12 September 2026.
Which products and versions are affected?: Modern Tribe The Events Calendar up to and including 6.17.3.
Is there a fix for CVE-2026-78159?: 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-2026-78159 attacked?: It is attacked over the network.
Am I affected by CVE-2026-78159?: Check whether anything you run is named in the advisory. 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 remote code execution flaw in the Element_Classes::parse_array() function caused by insufficient validation of widget class maps. Attackers can craft a plain-array payload that bypasses the is_safe_widget_instance() object type check, allowing it to reach the callable-invocation sink. The attack vector requires that the target site has comments enabled on tribe_events posts and contains at least one comment with a malicious wp:legacy-widget block; exploitation is triggered when do_blocks() processes the single-event HTML including comments. The vulnerability affects all versions up to and including 6.17.3. No patch details are provided in the advisory.

Affected products

Modern Tribe The Events Calendar up to and including 6.17.3

Timeline

2026-09-12: disclosed: CVE-2026-78159 published

References

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