In addition to the regular feature and product patches typically released, there were a few updates of note last month that may be applicable to your site including:
Updates & Improvements, and Ongoing Issues:
1) WordPress 7.0 Released: If you signed in to the back-end after your site was updated, you’ll notice that WordPress 7 includes a completely refreshed, yet familiar, interface. Colors are brighter, transitions between pages are smoother, and the “command palette” is available throughout the back-end via a new keystroke: ⌘K on Mac or Ctrl+K on Windows. Additionally (and optionally) WordPress 7 includes the ability to integrate with third-party generative AI models for future use. Note that these integrations are not enabled by default within Care Plan client sites.
For more on the release of WordPress 7.0, please visit: https://wordpress.org/news/2026/05/armstrong/
2) Web Application Firewall Update Rollout: For those on our Care Plan Hosting, you may notice an update to the Web Application Firewall in use on your site. In April I began migrating sites that qualify for it to a new firewall that ties in very closely with our hosting partner’s Security Center. These updates protect you from attacks BEFORE they get to your site and mean faster responses to “bot” and DDOS attacks, automatic WordPress vulnerability patching, will provide centrally managed rulesets updated daily, plus offer protection from cross-site-scripting, file inclusions, and SQL injections. Importantly, this also means reduced cost to you without reducing your protections! These firewall updates are currently rolling out to ALL ESC! Technologies Group Care Plan + Care Plan Hosting clients who are on Pro or Pro Plus hosting plans where existing licensing doesn’t conflict.
3) Divi 5 Update: Elegant Themes has officially released Divi 5 in March 2026. Divi 4 will continue to be supported for at least another 6 months at which point migration to Divi 5 will be mandated. In the mean time, third party plugin support continues to roll out. All Care Plan clients will remain on Divi 4 for now while I begin migrating to the final release on selected sites to determine if any compatibility issues arise. Stay tuned for more updates!
Security-related Patches in May:
- Elementor continues its streak of security flaws patched with the release of 4.0.6 and 4.1.1
- Gravity Forms included security hardening patches in 2.10.2 & 2.10.3
- Responsive LightboxGallery released ver 2.7.7 to patch a XSS/URL Injection vulnerability
- Other security patches were applied to Sugar Calendar, Gravity SMTP, Simple CAPTCHA Alternative for Cloudflare, CookieYes, MC4WP, Feeds for YouTube, and Widget Options.
Additional Security-Related updates included routine and feature updates to Wordfence, Advanced Custom Fields, and Secure Custom Fields.
All security patches and affected plugins, including some listed in the overview below, are generally installed via your Care Plan within 12-48 hours of an update becoming available depending upon the severity of the patch.
Plugin Update Summary for May 2026:
WordPress Core
WordPress 7.0
Security-Related Updates
Wordfence 8.2.1 / 8.2.2
Elementor 4.0.6/4.1.1
Essential Addons for Elementor 6.6.4/6.6.5
Gravity Forms 2.10.2 / 2.10.3
Conditional Fields for CF 7 2.7.3
Sugar Calendar 3.11.1
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) 6.8.1 / 6.8.2
Secure Custom Fields (SCF) 6.8.5 / 6.8.6
Gravity SMTP 2.2.0
Simple CAPTCHA Alt 1.39.1 / 1.40.0
CookieYes 3.5.0
MC4WP 4.12.3 / 4.12.6
Feeds for YouTube 2.6.6
Widget Options 4.2.4
Responsive LightboxGallery 2.7.7 (XSS / URL Inject)
Standard Plugins
Smush Pro 4.1
Hustle Pro 7.8.13 / 7.8.13.1
Gravity Forms 2.10.2 / 2.10.3
GP Advanced Calculations 1.1.22 / 2.0
GP File Upload 1.5.12
Post SMTP 3.9.2 / 3.9.3
Gravity SMTP 2.2.0
Spellbook 3.0.24 / 3.0.25
Contact Form 7 6.1.6
Conditional Fields for CF 7 2.7.3
Sugar Calendar 3.11.1
The Events Calendar 6.16.0 / 6.16.1 / 6.16.2
Yoast 27.6 / 27.7
JetPack 15.8
Classic Editor 1.7.0
Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) 6.8.1 / 6.8.2
TablePress 3.3.1
Soliloquy 2.7.3
SQ: Carousel Addon 2.2.3
SQ: Featured Content 2.4.9
NextGen Gallery 4.2.1 / 4.2.2
UpdraftPlus 1.26.4
Slider Revolution 6.7.55 / 6.7.56
Strong Testimonials 3.3.0
WP Optimize 4.5.4
Members 3.2.22
Font Awesome 5.1.5
Responsive LightboxGallery 2.7.7
RSS Retriever Lite 1.2.0
Widget Options 4.2.4 / 4.2.5
Google Analytics for WordPress 10.2.0 / 10.2.1
Constant Contact for WP 2.19.0
CookieYes 3.5.0 / 3.5.1
LoginWP 3.0.8.9 / 3.0.9.0
Publish Press Permissions 4.8.2
MC4WP 4.12.3 / 4.12.5 / 4.12.6
AddToAny Share Buttons 1.8.18
Feeds for YouTube 2.6.6
Widget Logic 6.9
Accept Donations w/PP 1.5.5
Themes and Related Plugins
Divi 5.0 Final 5.4.1/5.5.0/5.5.1/5.5.2/5.6/5.6.1
Divi Booster 5.3
WPBakery 8.7.3
Elementor 4.0.6/4.0.7/4.0.8/4.0.9/4.1.0/4.1.1
Astra (Elementor Theme) 4.13.2 / 4.13.3
Essential Addons for Elementor 6.6.4/6.6.5
SeedProd Pro 6.20.1
WooCommerce-Related
WooCommerce 10.8.0/10.8.1
Woo Smart Coupons 9.77.0 / 9.78.0
Woo Product Add-Ons 8.3.0
Woo Variation Swatches 3.1.15
Flexible Shipping 6.7.0 / 6.7.1 / 6.7.2 / 6.7.3
Flexible Shipping Pro 4.0.16 / 4.0.17 / 4.0.18
Woo Shipping 2.3.2 / 2.3.3 / 2.3.4 / 2.3.5
Woo Tax 3.6.2 / 3.6.3
PDF Inv & Packing List 5.10.0-5.12.0 / 5.12.1 / 5.12.2
Woo Stripe 10.7.0
Woo Square 5.4.0
WooPayments 10.8.0
Woo PayPal Payments 4.0.4
Google for WooCommerce 3.7.0
Tickera 3.5.7.1
Tickera Custom Forms 1.4.2
YITH Authorize.net 1.54.0
YITH Subscription 4.22.1
YITH Dynamic Pricing 4.30.0
YITH Membership 2.31.0
YITH Gift Cards 4.34.0
YITH Product Slider 1.54.0
YITH Category Accordion 2.29.0