Vulnerability-Lookup

GHSA-298R-885R-PJ27

Vulnerability from github – Published: 2026-10-01 09:30 – Updated: 2026-10-01 09:30

Details

The Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the Referer header in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.18 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on the '{search-query}' dynamic tag. When an ad block's code contains that tag, replace_ai_tags() reads $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] and tests it with the regex /.\/.[a-z.]{2,5}[\/]/i. The leading [.\/] class matches a literal slash, so any referrer merely containing a segment such as '/google.com/' passes as a search-engine referral; the plugin then percent-decodes the referring query with parse_str() and substitutes the resulting 'q' (or 'p') value into the block via preg_replace() with no escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the site for any visitor, including a signed-in administrator, by luring them to an attacker-controlled page that frames or links to any ordinary post. Exploitation requires the site to have an ad block whose code uses the '{search-query}' tag with automatic insertion enabled — a documented plugin feature used as intended.

Severity

6.1 (Medium)


                  
                    CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Show details on source website

JSON

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{
  "affected": [],
  "aliases": [
    "CVE-2026-19902"
  ],
  "database_specific": {
    "cwe_ids": [
      "CWE-79"
    ],
    "github_reviewed": false,
    "github_reviewed_at": null,
    "nvd_published_at": "2026-10-01T08:16:51Z",
    "severity": "MODERATE"
  },
  "details": "The Ad Inserter \u2013 Ad Manager \u0026 AdSense Ads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the Referer header in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.18 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on the \u0027{search-query}\u0027 dynamic tag. When an ad block\u0027s code contains that tag, replace_ai_tags() reads $_SERVER[\u0027HTTP_REFERER\u0027] and tests it with the regex /[\\.\\/](google|yahoo|bing|ask)\\.[a-z\\.]{2,5}[\\/]/i. The leading [\\.\\/] class matches a literal slash, so any referrer merely containing a segment such as \u0027/google.com/\u0027 passes as a search-engine referral; the plugin then percent-decodes the referring query with parse_str() and substitutes the resulting \u0027q\u0027 (or \u0027p\u0027) value into the block via preg_replace() with no escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the site for any visitor, including a signed-in administrator, by luring them to an attacker-controlled page that frames or links to any ordinary post. Exploitation requires the site to have an ad block whose code uses the \u0027{search-query}\u0027 tag with automatic insertion enabled \u2014 a documented plugin feature used as intended.",
  "id": "GHSA-298r-885r-pj27",
  "modified": "2026-10-01T09:30:33Z",
  "published": "2026-10-01T09:30:33Z",
  "references": [
    {
      "type": "ADVISORY",
      "url": "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-19902"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13018"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13022"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13025"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13093"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/class.php#L3297"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3709957/ad-inserter/trunk/ad-inserter.php"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=\u0026new=3709970%40ad-inserter%2Ftags%2F2.8.19\u0026old=3624916%40ad-inserter%2Ftags%2F2.8.18"
    },
    {
      "type": "WEB",
      "url": "https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/5d632cce-40a9-4969-b213-8370ae75287e?source=cve"
    }
  ],
  "schema_version": "1.4.0",
  "severity": [
    {
      "score": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
      "type": "CVSS_V3"
    }
  ]
}

CVE-2026-19902 (GCVE-0-2026-19902)

Vulnerability from cvelistv5 – Published: 2026-10-01 07:40 – Updated: 2026-10-03 15:42

Title

Ad Inserter <= 2.8.18 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via {search-query} Dynamic Tag (Referer Header)

Summary

The Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the Referer header in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.18 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on the '{search-query}' dynamic tag. When an ad block's code contains that tag, replace_ai_tags() reads $_SERVER['HTTP_REFERER'] and tests it with the regex /[\.\/](google|yahoo|bing|ask)\.[a-z\.]{2,5}[\/]/i. The leading [\.\/] class matches a literal slash, so any referrer merely containing a segment such as '/google.com/' passes as a search-engine referral; the plugin then percent-decodes the referring query with parse_str() and substitutes the resulting 'q' (or 'p') value into the block via preg_replace() with no escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the site for any visitor, including a signed-in administrator, by luring them to an attacker-controlled page that frames or links to any ordinary post. Exploitation requires the site to have an ad block whose code uses the '{search-query}' tag with automatic insertion enabled — a documented plugin feature used as intended.

Severity

6.1 (Medium)


                        
                          CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

SSVC

Exploitation: none Automatable: no Technical Impact: partial

CISA Coordinator · CISA-ADP (v2.0.3)

Decision recorded 2026-10-03 15:35 UTC

CWE

CWE-79 - Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')

Assigner

Wordfence CNA under the mitre root

CNA scorecard C 65/100 over 2138 records in the last 180 days details

References

8 references

URL	Tags
https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabil…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-ins…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-ins…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-ins…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-ins…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-ins…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?repo…
https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3709…

Impacted products

1 product

Vendor	Product	Version
spacetime	Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads	Affected: 0 , ≤ 2.8.18 (semver)

Credits

Yuto Hyakumoto

Show details on NVD website

JSON

To clipboard

{
  "containers": {
    "adp": [
      {
        "metrics": [
          {
            "other": {
              "content": {
                "id": "CVE-2026-19902",
                "options": [
                  {
                    "Exploitation": "none"
                  },
                  {
                    "Automatable": "no"
                  },
                  {
                    "Technical Impact": "partial"
                  }
                ],
                "role": "CISA Coordinator",
                "timestamp": "2026-10-03T15:35:45.406125Z",
                "version": "2.0.3"
              },
              "type": "ssvc"
            }
          }
        ],
        "providerMetadata": {
          "dateUpdated": "2026-10-03T15:42:52.231Z",
          "orgId": "134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0",
          "shortName": "CISA-ADP"
        },
        "title": "CISA ADP Vulnrichment"
      }
    ],
    "cna": {
      "affected": [
        {
          "defaultStatus": "unaffected",
          "product": "Ad Inserter \u2013 Ad Manager \u0026 AdSense Ads",
          "vendor": "spacetime",
          "versions": [
            {
              "lessThanOrEqual": "2.8.18",
              "status": "affected",
              "version": "0",
              "versionType": "semver"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "credits": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "type": "finder",
          "value": "Yuto Hyakumoto"
        }
      ],
      "descriptions": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "value": "The Ad Inserter \u2013 Ad Manager \u0026 AdSense Ads plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via the Referer header in all versions up to, and including, 2.8.18 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping on the \u0027{search-query}\u0027 dynamic tag. When an ad block\u0027s code contains that tag, replace_ai_tags() reads $_SERVER[\u0027HTTP_REFERER\u0027] and tests it with the regex /[\\.\\/](google|yahoo|bing|ask)\\.[a-z\\.]{2,5}[\\/]/i. The leading [\\.\\/] class matches a literal slash, so any referrer merely containing a segment such as \u0027/google.com/\u0027 passes as a search-engine referral; the plugin then percent-decodes the referring query with parse_str() and substitutes the resulting \u0027q\u0027 (or \u0027p\u0027) value into the block via preg_replace() with no escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary JavaScript in the context of the site for any visitor, including a signed-in administrator, by luring them to an attacker-controlled page that frames or links to any ordinary post. Exploitation requires the site to have an ad block whose code uses the \u0027{search-query}\u0027 tag with automatic insertion enabled \u2014 a documented plugin feature used as intended."
        }
      ],
      "metrics": [
        {
          "cvssV3_1": {
            "baseScore": 6.1,
            "baseSeverity": "MEDIUM",
            "vectorString": "CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N",
            "version": "3.1"
          }
        }
      ],
      "problemTypes": [
        {
          "descriptions": [
            {
              "cweId": "CWE-79",
              "description": "CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation (\u0027Cross-site Scripting\u0027)",
              "lang": "en",
              "type": "CWE"
            }
          ]
        }
      ],
      "providerMetadata": {
        "dateUpdated": "2026-10-01T07:40:23.197Z",
        "orgId": "b15e7b5b-3da4-40ae-a43c-f7aa60e62599",
        "shortName": "Wordfence"
      },
      "references": [
        {
          "url": "https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/5d632cce-40a9-4969-b213-8370ae75287e?source=cve"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13093"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13018"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13022"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13025"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/class.php#L3297"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=\u0026new=3709970%40ad-inserter%2Ftags%2F2.8.19\u0026old=3624916%40ad-inserter%2Ftags%2F2.8.18"
        },
        {
          "url": "https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3709957/ad-inserter/trunk/ad-inserter.php"
        }
      ],
      "timeline": [
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "time": "2026-08-14T19:31:26.000Z",
          "value": "Vendor Notified"
        },
        {
          "lang": "en",
          "time": "2026-09-30T19:33:23.000Z",
          "value": "Disclosed"
        }
      ],
      "title": "Ad Inserter \u003c= 2.8.18 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via {search-query} Dynamic Tag (Referer Header)"
    }
  },
  "cveMetadata": {
    "assignerOrgId": "b15e7b5b-3da4-40ae-a43c-f7aa60e62599",
    "assignerShortName": "Wordfence",
    "cveId": "CVE-2026-19902",
    "datePublished": "2026-10-01T07:40:23.197Z",
    "dateReserved": "2026-08-14T19:15:32.388Z",
    "dateUpdated": "2026-10-03T15:42:52.231Z",
    "state": "PUBLISHED"
  },
  "dataType": "CVE_RECORD",
  "dataVersion": "5.2"
}

Sightings

Author	Source	Type	Date	Other

Nomenclature

Seen: The vulnerability was mentioned, discussed, or observed by the user.
Confirmed: The vulnerability has been validated from an analyst's perspective.
Published Proof of Concept: A public proof of concept is available for this vulnerability.
Exploited: The vulnerability was observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Patched: The vulnerability was observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.
Not exploited: The vulnerability was not observed as exploited by the user who reported the sighting.
Not confirmed: The user expressed doubt about the validity of the vulnerability.
Not patched: The vulnerability was not observed as successfully patched by the user who reported the sighting.

The MITRE ATT&CK techniques below are AI-generated suggestions, inferred from the description of the vulnerability by the CIRCL/vulnerability-attack-technique-classification-roberta-base model, served locally by ML-Gateway. They have not been verified by an analyst and are provided for guidance only.
The approach is described in our paper Mapping CVEs to MITRE ATT&CK Techniques: A Curated Gold-Set Classifier and the Limits of LLM-Assisted Label Expansion.
Browse all ATT&CK techniques and the vulnerabilities related to each.

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Action not permitted

GHSA-298R-885R-PJ27

CVE-2026-19902 (GCVE-0-2026-19902)

Tags

Sightings

Nomenclature

Related by attack behaviour