Burst Statistics 3.4.0 - 3.4.1.1 - Authentication Bypass to Admin Account Takeover
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.4.2
- Affected Version
3.4.0 – 3.4.1.1- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-287 · Improper Authentication
- CVE
CVE-2026-8181
At a glance
CVE-2026-8181 is a critical-severity Improper Authentication vulnerability in the Burst Statistics WordPress plugin, affecting versions 3.4.0 – 3.4.1.1. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 3.4.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2026, reported by Chloe Chamberland.
Vulnerability Overview
The Burst Statistics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Authentication Bypass in versions 3.4.0 to 3.4.1.1. This is due to incorrect return-value handling in the `is_mainwp_authenticated()` function when validating application passwords from the Authorization header. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers, with knowledge of an administrator username, to impersonate that administrator for the duration of the request by supplying any random Basic Authentication password achieving privilege escalation.
Technical Analysis
The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.
CWE-287: Improper Authentication
Burst Statistics 3.4.0 – 3.4.1.1 carries this weakness at is_mainwp_authenticated(), and reaching it takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. Improper authentication means the mechanism that proves who a caller is can be satisfied without the secret it was supposed to require.
An attacker authenticates as another user — administrators included — without ever knowing a password, so password policies and login rate limits never come into play. For Burst Statistics the fix is 3.4.2: builds 3.4.0 – 3.4.1.1 are affected, anything from 3.4.2 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.4.2, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
Because it turns on account access, WordSec's login security is the relevant layer: role-based two-factor, captcha and brute-force limits raise the cost of getting the account this needs. None of that substitutes for the fix: Burst Statistics 3.4.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Other vulnerabilities in Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative)
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