# CVE-2026-102173: Cross-site scripting in Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer

> Unauthenticated attackers can inject arbitrary scripts via registration metadata in the Kirki WordPress plugin, requiring public registration and specific page elements.

- **Severity:** High 7.2 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 7 Oct 2026
- **Updated:** 7 Oct 2026
- **Also known as:** GHSA-7vc3-qmp9-p8w8

## What is CVE-2026-102173?

CVE-2026-102173 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in themeum Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer, published on 7 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via registration metadata in all versions up to, and including, 6.3.1 This is due to insufficient escaping in `ExceptionalElements::image_element()`, which concatenates a user-meta value straight into an `<img src="…">` attribute. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts that execute whenever a user accesses a page rendering a Kirki users collection whose image element is bound to one of the nine registration meta fields. Requires public user registration to be enabled and a published page carrying a `kirki-register` element, which prints the required element nonce into the public markup.

Weakness: CWE-79 (Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-102173?


## How do I fix CVE-2026-102173?

No fix has been published for CVE-2026-102173 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2026-102173 being exploited?

There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-102173 in the wild and no public exploit code.

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2026-102173 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2026-102173 is a high-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in themeum Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer, published on 7 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-102173 in the wild and no public exploit code.

Affected product: themeum Kirki – Freeform Page Builder, Website Builder & Customizer. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-102173/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-102173/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-102173
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-102173
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2026-102173

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2026-102173/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.