CVE-2026-118635: GeoDirectory remote code execution vulnerability

medium 6.5 published 2026-10-30

Affected versions: 2.8.198 and older
Fixed in: 2.8.199 *
Latest version: 2.8.201
Severity: Medium · CVSS 6.5
Active installs: 10,000+
Type: Remote code execution

* The source does not name a fixed version; this is the first wordpress.org release after the last affected version.

What an attacker needs

Access: None. No account or login is needed.

CVSS vector (score by Wordfence): CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/A:N

What to do now

Update GeoDirectory to 2.8.199 or newer (the latest is 2.8.201): Dashboard → Updates, or Plugins → “update now”.
If you cannot update right away, deactivate it until you can.
Turn on auto-updates for it: Plugins → “Enable auto-updates” on its row.
Not sure which version you run? Check your version against every known GeoDirectory issue. With WP-CLI: wp plugin get geodirectory --field=version.
If you ran an affected version and something looks off (new admin users, spam pages, redirects), run the free scan below.

The advisory

The The GeoDirectory – WP Business Directory Plugin and Classified Listings Directory plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.198 This is due to the software allowing users to execute an action that does not properly validate a value before running do_shortcode. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.

Description from the CVE record, published by Wordfence (the CVE Numbering Authority), via the NVD entry for CVE-2026-118635.

References

NVD CVE-2026-118635 nvd.nist.gov
Wordfence advisory www.wordfence.com
Code change (fix) plugins.trac.wordpress.org
github.com github.com
Plugin source plugins.trac.wordpress.org

Ran an affected version? Check your site for signs of a hack

The free scan reads the public side of your site and looks for spam pages, hidden redirects, injected scripts and blacklist entries. No login, no install, about a minute.

Where this data comes from

CVE record, score and references: NIST National Vulnerability Database (NVD), checked 2026-11-04. This product uses data from the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
Versions and install counts: wordpress.org/plugins/geodirectory (Plugins API), fetched 2026-11-04.
The summary, “what an attacker needs” and “what to do” sections are our plain-English reading of the record and the plugin's release history; the quoted description is the record's own text. Spot an error? Email Daniel.