CVE-2026-4004 | Task Manager <= 3.0.2 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) Arbitrary Shortcode Execution via 'task_id' Parameter

The Task Manager plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution via the 'search' AJAX action in all versions up to, and including, 3.0.2. This is due to missing capability checks in the callback_search() function and insufficient input validation that allows shortcode syntax (square brackets) to pass through sanitize_text_field() and be concatenated into a do_shortcode() call. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Subscriber-level access and above, to execute arbitrary shortcodes on the site by injecting shortcode syntax into parameters like 'task_id', 'point_id', 'categories_id', or 'term'.

Published: 2026-03-21 Last update: 2026-04-24 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]

Conclusion & alert: CVE-2026-4004 is rated Low Risk (31.5/100): CVSS Medium severity, with low exploitation likelihood (EPSS 0.05%). Mandatory action: Monitor for updates and reassess as exploit intelligence or EPSS changes.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2026-4004

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-03-27 0.04% 0.05% +0.01%
2 2026-03-21 0.04%

Full EPSS history (2 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2026-4004

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
6.5 3.1 MEDIUM
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:L)
Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
Integrity (I:L)
Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N)
Service keeps running; no real outage angle.
3.9 2.5 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2026-4004

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2026-4004

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
No affected products in dataset.

References for CVE-2026-4004

URL Tags
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/task-manager/tags/3.0.2/module/navigation/action/navigation.action.php#L29
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/task-manager/tags/3.0.2/module/navigation/action/navigation.action.php#L46
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/task-manager/tags/3.0.2/module/navigation/action/navigation.action.php#L75
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/task-manager/trunk/module/navigation/action/navigation.action.php#L29
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/task-manager/trunk/module/navigation/action/navigation.action.php#L46
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/task-manager/trunk/module/navigation/action/navigation.action.php#L75
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/e3a902a6-c16f-4e0a-a13a-defb93754c92?source=cve
cvelogic Threat Intelligence