Independent Analytics <= 2.15.0 - Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.15.1
- Affected Plugin
- Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin
- Affected Version
<= 2.15.0- CVSS
- 7.2High
- Weakness type
- CWE-79 · Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
- CVE
CVE-2026-17506
At a glance
CVE-2026-17506 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') vulnerability in the Independent Analytics WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.15.0. It carries a CVSS score of 7.2 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 2.15.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed August 2026, reported by daroo.
Vulnerability Overview
The Independent Analytics plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the 404 not_found_url tracking parameter in versions up to, and including, 2.15.0. This is due to the get_cell_content() function applying urldecode() after esc_url() when rendering the URL column for 404 entries — a sequence that allows percent-encoded HTML to pass URL validation and then be reconstructed as raw markup, which wp_kses_post() does not strip because it retains img elements and data-* attributes, and because the public REST endpoint /iawp/search accepts unauthenticated requests as long as they carry a signature that is itself embedded in public page HTML. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary web scripts in pages that will execute whenever a user accesses an injected page.
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.
CWE-79: Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Independent Analytics <= 2.15.0 carries this weakness at get_cell_content(), and reaching it takes no account at all. Cross-site scripting happens when input from a request is written into a page without being escaped for the context it lands in, so the browser parses attacker-supplied text as markup or script.
Injected script runs with the privileges of whoever views the affected page, which is how these flaws turn into administrator session theft, silent account creation or persistent backdoors in page content. For Independent Analytics the fix is 2.15.1: builds <= 2.15.0 are affected, anything from 2.15.1 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.15.1, or a newer patched version
How WordSec helps
Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Independent Analytics 2.15.1 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Independent Analytics – WordPress Analytics Plugin
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