CVE-2026-111820 in Analytics Insights Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 10/27/2026
The Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the Page Title in all versions up to, and including, 6.3.12 due to insufficient input sanitization and output escaping. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 10/27/2026
The Analytics Insights – Google Analytics Dashboard for WordPress plugin represents a significant attack surface within the WordPress ecosystem, particularly given its widespread adoption among site administrators who rely on integrated analytics data. The vulnerability identified affects all versions up to and including 6.3.12, centering specifically on how the plugin handles user-supplied input related to page titles. This flaw stems from insufficient input sanitization and a critical failure in output escaping mechanisms during the rendering of dashboard elements. In secure software development practices, any data originating from external sources or administrative inputs must be rigorously validated against expected formats and encoded appropriately before being inserted into HTML contexts. The absence of these safeguards allows malicious actors to bypass standard security controls inherent to modern web browsers, which typically attempt to mitigate script injection through content type sniffing and strict parsing rules that are often circumvented by poorly escaped dynamic content.
From a technical perspective, the core issue lies in the handling of the Page Title field within the plugin's administrative interface or data processing pipeline. When an attacker injects arbitrary web scripts into this field, the application fails to neutralize special characters such as angle brackets, quotes, and ampersands that are essential for breaking out of the intended HTML context. Consequently, when a legitimate user accesses the affected page or dashboard view, the browser interprets the injected code not as plain text but as executable JavaScript. This execution occurs within the security context of the victim's session, granting the attacker the ability to perform actions on behalf of the authenticated user. The vulnerability is classified under CWE-79, which denotes Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation commonly known as Cross-Site Scripting or XSS. Specifically, because the malicious script is stored within the application's database and served to multiple users over time, it falls squarely into the category of Stored Cross-Site Scripting rather than reflected variants.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple defacement or cookie theft, although those remain primary risks. An unauthenticated attacker can leverage this flaw to hijack administrative sessions by stealing session cookies stored in local storage or via JavaScript access if HttpOnly flags are not strictly enforced across all application cookies. Once the attacker gains control of an administrator's session, they can manipulate site configurations, inject further malware into themes and plugins, exfiltrate sensitive data from Google Analytics reports, or create backdoors for persistent access. Furthermore, because the payload is stored server-side, every user who views the compromised page becomes a potential victim without needing to click on a malicious link, significantly increasing the blast radius of the attack. This aligns with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1059.007, which covers JavaScript execution within web browsers, and potentially T1136 for creating accounts if privilege escalation is achieved through session hijacking.
Mitigation strategies must address both immediate remediation and long-term security hygiene. The most effective solution is to upgrade the plugin immediately to a version released after 6.3.12 where these input validation and output encoding issues have been resolved by the developers. Until an update is available, administrators should consider disabling the specific functionality that renders unescaped page titles or restricting access to the WordPress admin area using IP whitelisting if feasible. From a broader security architecture standpoint, implementing a Content Security Policy (CSP) can help mitigate the impact of such vulnerabilities by restricting the sources from which scripts are allowed to execute, thereby preventing inline script execution even if injection occurs. Additionally, regular vulnerability scanning and code audits focusing on input sanitization libraries like wp_kses in WordPress environments are essential to prevent similar flaws in custom themes or plugins that may lack rigorous security testing protocols.