---
id: CVE-2026-100159
title: >-
  Popup Box 6.4.1 - 6.4.2 - Unauthenticated Arbitrary Shortcode Execution via
  Client-IP / X-Forwarded-For HTTP Headers
summary: >-
  The Popup Box plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Shortcode
  Execution in versions 6.4.1 to 6.4.2. This is due to the
  ays_popup_get_user_ip() function reading the client-controlled Client-IP /
  X-Forwarded-For / Forwarded / X-F…
severity: medium
cvss: 4.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-94
vendor: ays-pro
product: 'Popup Box – Create Countdown, Coupon, Video, Contact Form Popups'
affected:
  - >-
    popup_box_create_countdown_coupon_video_contact_form_popups >= 6.4.1 <=
    6.4.2
published: '2026-10-16'
updated: '2026-10-16'
sourceUpdated: '2026-10-16T02:26:09.256Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-100159'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/535c4796-d1aa-4cd1-922e-f9dcf216f76d?source=cve
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/public/class-ays-pb-public.php#L3389
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/public/partials/ays-pb-public-templates.php#L4560
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/public/partials/ays-pb-public-templates.php#L4299
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/includes/class-ays-pb-data.php#L79
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.2/public/partials/ays-pb-public-templates.php#L69
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ays-popup-box/tags/6.4.3/public/class-ays-pb-public.php
tags:
  - cve.org
ingestedAt: '2026-10-16T02:57:05.902Z'
---

## Overview

The Popup Box plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Shortcode Execution in versions 6.4.1 to 6.4.2. This is due to the ays_popup_get_user_ip() function reading the client-controlled Client-IP / X-Forwarded-For / Forwarded / X-Forwarded / Forwarded-For request headers, sanitizing them only with sanitize_text_field() (which does not strip the bracket, quote, space, or '=' characters used by shortcode syntax), substituting the value into a popup body wherever the %%user_ip_address%% token appears (a raw str_replace with no escaping in Ays_Pb_Data::replace_message_variables()), and then passing the resulting body to do_shortcode() in Ays_Pb_Public::ays_autoembed() at output on the wp_footer hook. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary registered shortcodes with attacker-supplied attributes on the server whenever an administrator has added the %%user_ip_address%% token to a popup's Custom Content body, which can be leveraged to read arbitrary data or perform other actions exposed by shortcodes installed on the site.

## Affected

- `popup_box_create_countdown_coupon_video_contact_form_popups >= 6.4.1 <= 6.4.2`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.