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Cross-site Scripting (XSS)Weakness · CWE-79

CVE-2026-5231

HIGH · 7.2 CVSS v3.1 Published 2026-04-17
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
81/100
Remediation priority · High
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The WP Statistics plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 'utm_source' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 14.16.4. This is due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. The plugin's referral parser copies the raw utm_source value into the source_name field when a wildcard channel domain matches, and the chart renderer later inserts this value into legend markup via innerHTML without escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in admin pages that will execute whenever an administrator accesses the Referrals Overview or Social Media analytics pages.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The WP Statistics WordPress plugin fails to sanitize the utm_source parameter during referral processing. When a wildcard channel domain matches, the raw utm_source value is stored directly into the source_name field without sanitization. Later, when rendering charts on admin Referrals Overview or Social Media analytics pages, this value is inserted into HTML via innerHTML without output escaping, allowing stored XSS execution.

MitigationUpdate WP Statistics plugin to version 14.16.5 or later to receive the vendor patch that adds proper input sanitization and output escaping for the utm_source parameter.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
Low
Integrity
Low
Availability
None

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

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Confirm WP Statistics plugin installation
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'WP Statistics', or check the /wp-content/plugins/wp-statistics/ directory exists
    Affected if WP Statistics plugin is not installed or not found
  2. Identify installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, find WP Statistics, and note the version number displayed
    Affected if Version is below 14.16.5 (vulnerable versions)
  3. Check if Referrals or Social Media analytics features are enabled
    Navigate to WP Statistics > Referrals or WP Statistics > Social Media in the admin dashboard. If these pages load and display data, the feature is active
    Affected if Either the Referrals Overview or Social Media analytics pages are accessible and functional in the admin panel
  4. Verify wildcard channel domain configuration exists
    Go to WP Statistics > Settings > Channels, or check the wp_options table for option_name containing 'wildcard' and 'channel' - look for any configured domain patterns
    Affected if Wildcard channel domains are configured, allowing utm_source to be stored without sanitization

Your environment is affected if WP Statistics plugin version is below 14.16.5 AND the Referrals or Social Media analytics features are accessible with wildcard channel domains configured.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

dbcve · scoped
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update WP Statistics plugin to version 14.16.5 or later to receive the vendor patch that adds proper input sanitization and output escaping for the utm_source parameter.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

WP Statistics version 14.16.5 or later

  1. 1. Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
  2. 2. Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
  3. 3. Locate the WP Statistics plugin
  4. 4. Check the current installed version
  5. 5. If the installed version is 14.16.4 or lower, update to the latest available version
  6. 6. Verify the update completes successfully
  7. 7. Test the Referrals Overview and Social Media analytics pages to confirm the fix

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get help mitigating

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2026-5231 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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