6.1
MEDIUM CVSS 3.1
CVE-2026-19902
Ad Inserter <= 2.8.18 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via {search-query} Dynamic Tag (Referer Header)
Description

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.

INFO

Published Date :

Oct. 1, 2026, 8:16 a.m.

Last Modified :

Oct. 1, 2026, 8:16 a.m.

Remotely Exploit :

Yes !
Affected Products

The following products are affected by CVE-2026-19902 vulnerability. Even if cvefeed.io is aware of the exact versions of the products that are affected, the information is not represented in the table below.

ID Vendor Product Action
1 Ad_inserter_project ad_inserter
CVSS Scores
The Common Vulnerability Scoring System is a standardized framework for assessing the severity of vulnerabilities in software and systems. We collect and displays CVSS scores from various sources for each CVE.
Score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Score Impact Score Source
CVSS 3.1 MEDIUM MITRE-CVE
CVSS 3.1 MEDIUM [email protected]
Solution
Update Ad Inserter plugin to version 2.8.19 or later to fix a reflected XSS vulnerability.
  • Update the Ad Inserter plugin to the latest version.
  • Review and sanitize user-provided input.
  • Escape output before rendering.
  • Avoid using user input in sensitive contexts.
CWE - Common Weakness Enumeration

While CVE identifies specific instances of vulnerabilities, CWE categorizes the common flaws or weaknesses that can lead to vulnerabilities. CVE-2026-19902 is associated with the following CWEs:

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC)

Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification (CAPEC) stores attack patterns, which are descriptions of the common attributes and approaches employed by adversaries to exploit the CVE-2026-19902 weaknesses.

We scan GitHub repositories to detect new proof-of-concept exploits. Following list is a collection of public exploits and proof-of-concepts, which have been published on GitHub (sorted by the most recently updated).

Results are limited to the first 15 repositories due to potential performance issues.

The following list is the news that have been mention CVE-2026-19902 vulnerability anywhere in the article.

The following table lists the changes that have been made to the CVE-2026-19902 vulnerability over time.

Vulnerability history details can be useful for understanding the evolution of a vulnerability, and for identifying the most recent changes that may impact the vulnerability's severity, exploitability, or other characteristics.

  • New CVE Received by [email protected]

    Oct. 01, 2026

    Action Type Old Value New Value
    Added Description 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.
    Added CVSS V3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
    Added CWE CWE-79
    Added Affected New affected value received. <a href="https://github.com/CVEProject/cvelistV5/blob/main/cves/2026/19xxx/CVE-2026-19902.json">CVE-2026-19902</a>
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13018
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13022
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13025
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/ad-inserter.php#L13093
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/ad-inserter/tags/2.8.18/class.php#L3297
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3709957/ad-inserter/trunk/ad-inserter.php
    Added Reference https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&new=3709970%40ad-inserter%2Ftags%2F2.8.19&old=3624916%40ad-inserter%2Ftags%2F2.8.18
    Added Reference https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/5d632cce-40a9-4969-b213-8370ae75287e?source=cve
EPSS is a daily estimate of the probability of exploitation activity being observed over the next 30 days. Following chart shows the EPSS score history of the vulnerability.