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CVE-2026-16144 — The Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable…

Key facts

CVE-2026-16144 is a High (8.1) vulnerability: The Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable…. This entry ships a detection-only PoC and a Docker test lab.
CVE CVE-2026-16144
Severity High (8.1)
Detection / prevention —
PoC poc.py
Source 2026/CVE-2026-16144/

Details

English | 한국어

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.

Vulnerability Details

Property Value
CVE ID CVE-2026-16144
Type RCE
CVSS Score 8.1

Proof of Concept

Download

# Download PoC script
curl -O https://raw.githubusercontent.com/fankh/vulnerability-poc/main/2026/CVE-2026-16144/poc.py

Usage

# Run PoC against target
python3 poc.py --target <TARGET_URL>

# With authentication
python3 poc.py --target <TARGET_URL> --username <USER> --password <PASS>

⚠️ Warning: This PoC is for authorized security testing only. It uses detection-only techniques and does not exploit or damage target systems.

Test Lab

This repository includes a Docker-based test environment with both vulnerable and patched applications.

Quick Start

# Clone and navigate to CVE directory
cd CVE-2026-16144

# Start both applications
docker-compose up -d

# Run tests
./run-tests.sh    # Linux/Mac
./run-tests.ps1   # Windows PowerShell

Application Endpoints

Application URL Status
Vulnerable App http://localhost:8080 Shows vulnerability
Patched App http://localhost:8081 Demonstrates fix

Directory Structure

├── README.md           # English documentation
├── README_KO.md        # Korean documentation
├── poc.py              # PoC detection script
├── docker-compose.yml  # Container orchestration
├── run-tests.sh        # Linux/Mac test runner
├── run-tests.ps1       # Windows test runner
├── vulnerable-app/     # Vulnerable version
│   ├── app.py
│   ├── Dockerfile
│   └── requirements.txt
└── patched-app/        # Fixed version
    ├── app.py
    ├── Dockerfile
    └── requirements.txt

References

  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.19/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L1033
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.19/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L172
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.19/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L277
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.19/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L90
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.19/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L976
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.20/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L1033
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.20/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L172
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.20/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L277
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.20/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L90
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/kali-forms/tags/2.4.20/Inc/Frontend/class-form-processor.php#L976
  • https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3623024%40kali-forms&new=3623024%40kali-forms
  • https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/9d692aff-8bb2-45bb-9caf-bc33d3ed5b10?source=cve

Generated by PoC Generator on 2026-08-01T20:30:08.791407379

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2026-16144?

CVE-2026-16144 is a High (8.1) vulnerability: The Kali Forms — Contact Form & Drag-and-Drop Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable…. This entry ships a detection-only PoC and a Docker test lab.

How do I detect CVE-2026-16144?

Run the detection-only PoC included with this entry against your Docker test lab to confirm whether a target is affected; pair it with your own IDS logging.

How do I block or mitigate CVE-2026-16144?

Upgrade to a fixed version per the vendor advisory; the NVD record lists the affected versions. Use the included PoC to verify your remediation.

For authorized security testing and research only. See the full source and NVD record.