---
id: CVE-2026-78006
title: >-
  The The Events Calendar plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code
  Execution in all versions up to, and including, 6.17.4 via the
  is_safe_widget_instance function
summary: >-
  The The Events Calendar plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code
  Execution in all versions up to, and including, 6.17.4 via the
  is_safe_widget_instance function. This is due to insufficient protection in
  is_safe_widget_instance,…
severity: critical
cvss: 9.8
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H'
cwe:
  - CWE-502
vendor: stellarwp
product: The Events Calendar
affected:
  - the_events_calendar <= 6.17.4
published: '2026-09-12'
updated: '2026-09-14'
sourceUpdated: '2026-09-14T20:16:52.847'
source: NVD
sourceUrl: 'https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-78006'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/common/src/Tribe/Utils/Collection_Trait.php#L247
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/src/Tribe/Collections/Lazy_Post_Collection.php#L82
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/src/Tribe/Views/V2/Template_Bootstrap.php#L213
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/src/Tribe/Views/V2/Widgets/Service_Provider.php#L255
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/the-events-calendar/tags/6.17.3/src/Tribe/Views/V2/Widgets/Service_Provider.php#L295
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3690576%40the-events-calendar&new=3690576%40the-events-calendar
    label: security@wordfence.com
  - url: >-
      https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a0c67346-534a-4b67-a904-fa148703707a?source=cve
    label: security@wordfence.com
tags:
  - nvd
  - exploit-available
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00778
epssPercentile: 0.54403
exploits:
  github: 1
  githubRepos:
    - 'https://github.com/DeadExpl0it/CVE-2026-78006-POC'
  checkedAt: '2026-09-24T07:53:17.809Z'
exploitAvailable: true
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'yes'
  technicalImpact: total
  timestamp: '2026-09-14T19:08:51.648802Z'
ingestedAt: '2026-09-14T15:23:07.480Z'
---

## Overview

The The Events Calendar plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to, and including, 6.17.4 via the is_safe_widget_instance function. This is due to insufficient protection in is_safe_widget_instance, which can be bypassed because PHP fires magic methods during its pre-parse, combined with enable_rendering_widget_copied() forging a valid wp_hash integrity attribute before unserialize() is reached. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute code on the server. This is exploitable without authentication or approval because the plugin's V2 single-event template runs do_blocks() over buffered comment HTML, and WordPress returns a moderation-hash URL that allows an unauthenticated commenter to immediately view their own pending comment, delivering the injected block markup to the vulnerable code path before any moderation occurs. This does require comments to be enabled and visible on events.

## Remediation

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