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Media Sweep – WordPress Media Cleaner Plugin Vulnerability (CVE-2026-77824)

Nick Paliughi
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Security Alert Summary

The Media Sweep – WordPress Media Cleaner plugin contains a SQL injection vulnerability in the handling of the fields parameter. Authenticated users with administrator-level privileges or higher can manipulate the parameter to append additional SQL queries, potentially extracting sensitive information from the database.

CVE Details

  • CVE ID: CVE-2026-77824
  • Affected component: Media Sweep – WordPress Media Cleaner plugin for WordPress
  • Affected versions: All versions up to and including 1.1.3
  • Published: August 25, 2026 at 12:16:25 PM UTC
  • Last modified: August 25, 2026 at 12:16:25 PM UTC
  • CVSS v3.1: Base score 4.9 (MEDIUM) — CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
  • Authentication / privileges required / user interaction: Requires authenticated user with high privileges (administrator-level or above). No user interaction required.
  • Primary impact: Confidentiality: High; Integrity: None; Availability: None
  • Weakness (CWE): CWE-89 (SQL Injection)

Technical Details

The plugin fails to properly escape and prepare user-supplied input for the fields parameter. Due to insufficient escaping and lack of adequate preparation of an existing SQL query, an authenticated attacker with administrator-level access can inject SQL payloads into queries constructed by the plugin. This allows the attacker to append additional SQL statements or modify query behavior to extract data from the database.

Files referenced in the analysis include REST API controller implementations and a query builder utility, specifically class-rest-controller.php, class-scan-files-controller.php, and class-query-builder.php. The issue stems from how the fields parameter is passed into query construction without sufficient sanitization or use of prepared statements.

The impact is limited to data disclosure via SQL queries; the CVSS metrics indicate confidentiality impact as High while integrity and availability impacts are None. There is no indication in the provided data of remote unauthenticated exploitation or privilege escalation beyond the requirement for high privileges.

How This Could Impact Your Website

In a typical small-to-medium website, the site owner grants administrator access to a small number of internal staff and may also provide temporary administrator access to external contractors or contributors. If one of those privileged accounts is compromised or misused, an attacker could use the fields parameter to run injected SQL and extract sensitive records from the database.

Practical consequences include exposure of internal user email addresses and other sensitive data stored in the database, increasing the risk of targeted phishing or social engineering against staff and contractors. The vulnerability does not, based on the provided data, indicate automatic site takeover, but it does raise the risk of sensitive data disclosure that could be used in follow-on attacks.

If youre unsure whether your site is affected or how to assess your current user roles and plugins, it may be worth having a professional review of your setup.

Recommended Actions

  • Update the affected plugin as soon as a patched version is available.
  • Review and reduce unnecessary user roles, especially accounts with administrator-level privileges.
  • Enforce strong passwords and enable two-factor authentication for editors and administrators.
  • Remove unused or unmaintained plugins and limit the assignment of high-privilege accounts.
  • Monitor site activity and database access logs for unusual behavior or unexpected queries.

If youd like help reviewing your plugins, user roles, or overall WordPress security posture, our team at Freshy is happy to help.

References

Nick Paliughihttps://freshysites.com/team/nick-paliughi/
Nick was born in California and now resides in Lake Worth, FL. He has 10 years of experience building and maintaining sites in WordPress, which he is excited to put to use at Freshy. Prior to starting at Freshy in 2022 his focus was on WordPress security & malware removal. When he’s not tending to your website, Nick is installing exhibitions at art galleries and museums in Palm Beach County, and if he’s lucky surfing at the Lake Worth pier.

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