Click to Chat for WhatsApp WordPress plugin: Unauthenticated shortcode execution
Summary
The Click to Chat for WhatsApp plugin for WordPress (up to and including version 4.44) builds a greeting template from the request URI on archive pages and passes it to do_shortcode() without stripping shortcode delimiters. An unauthenticated remote attacker can use this to execute arbitrary WordPress shortcodes registered by core, the active theme or other plugins. Exploitation requires no login and no user interaction.
Affected
- Click to Chat – HoliThemes (slug click-to-chat-for-whatsapp), versions 0 to and including 4.44
- Greeting templates greetings-1 and greetings-2 on archive pages
Fixed in
Unknown. No vendor-confirmed fixed version has been identified; check the WordPress.org plugin page and changelog.
Workaround
- No vendor-issued workaround found.
- If the greetings feature is not required, deactivate the plugin until a fixed version is installed.
Exploitation
- No public exploit known as of the latest snapshots.
- No evidence of exploitation in the wild found.
- CISA SSVC: Automatable yes, Technical Impact total; CISA KEV listing not verified.
Our recommendation
- Inventory all WordPress sites for the Click to Chat plugin and its version.
- Deactivate the plugin on sites where the greeting feature is not business-critical.
- Install the fixed release as soon as it is confirmed on WordPress.org and apply it immediately.
- Monitor web server logs for unusual requests to archive pages.
Public exploits
PoC-in-GitHub, Metasploit and Exploit-DB list nothing for this CVE.
Research sources
- Wordfence threat intelligence record www.wordfence.com
- Vulnerable code: class-ht-ctc-chat-greetings.php (tag 4.44) plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- Vulnerable code: greetings-1.php (tag 4.44) plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- Trunk changeset r3716433 (greetings-1.php) plugins.trac.wordpress.org
- VulnCheck/Vulners VULNRICHMENT record vulners.com
- Freshysites security bulletin freshysites.com
- GitHub advisory GHSA-4768-hg42-39c5 github.com
- VulDB entry 418972 vuldb.com
Researched and written up in English and German by an AI (Claude by Anthropic) based on NVD, CISA, EPSS and the sources listed. The vendor information is authoritative. Researched on 31 Oct 2026, 06:36.
Original description (NVD)
The Click to Chat for WhatsApp plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Arbitrary Shortcode Execution in versions up to, and including, 4.44 This is due to the greetings_dialog() function building the {url} template placeholder from a sanitize_text_field()-filtered $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] on archive pages and then passing the substituted greeting content to do_shortcode() in the greetings-1 and greetings-2 templates, without stripping shortcode delimiters. Because wp_kses() runs against main_content BEFORE the {url} substitution, the attacker-controlled URL bytes reach do_shortcode() unfiltered. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes registered by WordPress core, the active theme, or any other plugin (e.
NVD references (6)
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/click-to-chat-for-whatsapp/tags/4.44/new/inc/greetings/class-ht-ct…
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/click-to-chat-for-whatsapp/tags/4.44/new/inc/greetings/class-ht-ct…
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/click-to-chat-for-whatsapp/tags/4.44/new/inc/greetings/greetings-1…
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/click-to-chat-for-whatsapp/tags/4.44/new/inc/greetings/greetings-2…
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3716433/click-to-chat-for-whatsapp/trunk/new/inc/greetings/greet…
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/cf625e34-1f51-42a3-8daa-a5188dea226e?source=cve
Sources
The tracker combines official, freely usable data sources – updated continuously:
- NVD (NIST) – CVEs, rating (CVSS), affected products
- CISA KEV – vulnerabilities confirmed by CISA as actively exploited
- CISA Vulnrichment – CISA assessment (SSVC) in the official CVE record
- FIRST EPSS – probability of exploitation
- Microsoft MSRC – Patch Tuesday: vulnerabilities, severity, updates
- PoC-in-GitHub – public proof-of-concept repositories
- Metasploit (Rapid7) – modules of the Metasploit Framework
- Exploit-DB (OffSec) – archive of public exploits (links only)
- Patch days: official vendor pages (linked per vendor) (Vendor patch days)
This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD. EPSS data © FIRST.org.
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