Description

The LWS Optimize WordPress plugin before 4.1.2 does not properly escape a value submitted through an unauthenticated analytics endpoint before storing it and rendering it in an administrative dashboard, allowing unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts that execute when an administrator views the affected dashboard page.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "6.1",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-09T06:17:20.900Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-09T06:17:20.900Z",
  "executiveSummary": "The LWS Optimize WordPress plugin before version 4.1.2 suffers from a Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability residing within its unauthenticated analytics endpoint.\nThis flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts, such as malicious JavaScript payloads, into the application via the analytics endpoint without requiring any prior authentication or privileges.\nThe injected payload is improperly escaped before being stored by the application and is subsequently rendered within the administrative dashboard.\nThe primary impact of this vulnerability is the execution of arbitrary script code in the context of an administrator's browser session whenever they access the affected administrative dashboard page.\nThis security deficiency exposes administrative sessions to potential hijacking, unauthorized administrative actions, and further compromise of the underlying WordPress installation.\nRisk implications are high due to the unauthenticated nature of the injection vector combined with privileged execution context upon administrative review.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability is caused by insufficient input sanitization, validation, and output escaping within the LWS Optimize WordPress plugin before version 4.1.2.\nThe vulnerable component is the unauthenticated analytics endpoint exposed by the plugin, which accepts user-supplied data intended for analytics tracking.\nRoot Cause: The application fails to properly sanitize and contextually escape values submitted through the unauthenticated analytics endpoint prior to database storage. Furthermore, it fails to encode the stored data correctly when rendering it in the administrative dashboard interface.\nAttack Flow: An unauthenticated attacker crafts a malicious HTTP request targeting the unauthenticated analytics endpoint, embedding an arbitrary web script payload (such as <script>alert(1)</script>) within the submitted parameter values.\nThe plugin accepts the input without validation and persists the malicious payload directly into the database.\nSubsequently, an unsuspecting administrator navigates to the affected administrative dashboard page where the stored analytics data is dynamically retrieved and rendered into the DOM without proper output encoding.\nPayload Behavior: The browser interprets the rendered malicious data as executable code and executes the script within the security context of the administrator's active session.\nAuthentication Requirements: Zero authentication is required to submit the payload to the analytics endpoint.\nPrivilege Requirements: No privileges are required for the initial payload injection phase; however, exploitation relies on the privileged actions of an authenticated administrator viewing the dashboard.\nNetwork Exposure: The vulnerable analytics endpoint is accessible over the network via standard HTTP/HTTPS protocols exposed by the WordPress site.\nPost-Exploitation Impact: Successful exploitation can lead to administrative session hijacking, arbitrary actions performed on behalf of the administrator, creation of backdoors, or redirection to malicious external sites."
}