CVE-2026-16144

HIGH EXPLOITED

Kali Forms <= 2.4.20 - Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution via 'thisPermalink' Field Parameter

Title source: cna
STIX 2.1

Exploitation Summary

CVE-2026-16144 has been observed exploited in the wild (reported by VulnCheck KEV).

Description

The Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Remote Code Execution in all versions up to, and including, 2.4.20 via the _save_data function. This is due to insufficient validation of the 'thisPermalink' field value before it overwrites a trusted callable placeholder, allowing attacker-controlled strings to reach call_user_func() in _save_data(). This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute code on the server. Exploitation requires the target form to define a field with a name matching one of the reserved placeholder keys ('thisPermalink', 'entryCounter', or 'submission_link'), as check_if_placeholders_changed() only processes POST keys present in the form's field_type_map.

Scores

CVSS v3 8.1
EPSS 0.0069
EPSS Percentile 49.3%
Attack Vector NETWORK
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

CISA SSVC

Vulnrichment
Exploitation none
Automatable no
Technical Impact total

Details

VulnCheck KEV 2026-08-05
CWE
CWE-94
Status published
Products (1)
wpchill/Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder < 2.4.20
Published Aug 01, 2026
Tracked Since Aug 01, 2026