CVE-2026-1291 Meow Gallery <= 5.4.4 - Missing Authorization to Authenticated (Author+) Shortcode creation
Authenticated attackers with Author access can arbitrarily create or overwrite gallery shortcode records due to missing capability checks in the REST API.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Any signed-in user
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-1291?
CVE-2026-1291 is a medium-severity missing authorization vulnerability in tigroumeow Meow Gallery, published on 13 Jun 2026. Any signed-in user can exploit it over the network, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The Meow Gallery plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to unauthorized modification of data due to a missing capability check on the REST API endpoint /wp-json/meow-gallery/v1/save_shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 5.4.4 This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Author-level access and above, to arbitrarily create or overwrite existing gallery shortcode records by supplying a user-controlled id value. The endpoint performs database update operations without verifying that the requesting user is authorized to modify the referenced gallery record or create their own.
Weakness: CWE-639
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-1291?
How do I fix CVE-2026-1291?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-1291 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Upgrade, and check permissions on every request on the server, not only in the interface. More about Missing authorization.
Is CVE-2026-1291 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-1291 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-vwf8-xx3v-5qw7.