CVE-2026-78471 Autoptimize <= 3.1.15.1 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Author Name
Unauthenticated attackers can inject scripts via comment author names in Autoptimize, requiring specific admin settings and plugin states.
- Exploited in the wild
- Not known
- Login needed
- Not needed
- Attackable
- Over the internet
- Victim action needed
- Not needed
- Fix
- None listed
What is CVE-2026-78471?
CVE-2026-78471 is a medium-severity cross-site scripting vulnerability in optimizingmatters Autoptimize, published on 2 Oct 2026. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Official description
The Autoptimize plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Author Name in all versions up to, and including, 3.1.15.1 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page. Exploitation requires an administrator to have enabled Autoptimize's 'Lazy-load images?' option, the w3-total-cache/w3-total-cache.php file to be present on disk with the plugin disabled, a class named Minify_HTML to be loaded into scope by another plugin, and the malicious comment to be approved by a moderator before the payload renders.
Weakness: CWE-79
Which versions are affected by CVE-2026-78471?
How do I fix CVE-2026-78471?
No fix has been published for CVE-2026-78471 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.
Escape output for the context it lands in and set a strict Content Security Policy. Upgrading the affected component is the real fix. More about Cross-site scripting.
Is CVE-2026-78471 being exploited?
There is no known exploitation of CVE-2026-78471 in the wild and no public exploit code.
Sources
Also known as GHSA-fcq7-9xcx-6xxw.