WordPress security by component

Ad Inserter

Plugin description

Ad Inserter inserts advertisements, scripts, and other custom content into configurable locations across WordPress pages and posts.

Ad Inserter (ad-inserter) is a WordPress plugin with 17 published CVE records in this archive. The latest tracked vulnerability was published Oct 01, 2026; the highest published CVSS base score is 8.8.

Plugin slug: ad-inserter

Latest vulnerability

CVE-2026-19902: Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads: Cross-site scripting

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.

PublishedOct 01, 2026

Safe version guidanceSee mitigation notes

Published vulnerabilities for ad-inserter
		Safe version
Oct 01, 2026	CVE-2026-19902 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads: Cross-site scripting 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.	See mitigation notes	CVE6.1 NVDPending
Sep 30, 2026	CVE-2026-97077 Ad Inserter: Cross-site scripting Unauthenticated Cross Site Scripting (XSS) in Ad Inserter <= 2.8.18 versions. The reported impact is browser script execution in the affected site's origin. The injected field, rendering context and exact victim interaction are unspecified. The authoritative export does not identify the vulnerable endpoint, action, parameter or function, so the precise input-to-operation path cannot be established from this snapshot. The authoritative export identifies the fixed release as 2.8.19.	2.8.19	CVE7.1 NVDPending
Sep 27, 2026	CVE-2026-81655 Ad Inserter: Subscriber-level stored PHP execution Ad Inserter 2.8.12 through versions before 2.8.19 makes a settings page accessible to every logged-in user under a configuration permitted by its own settings and fails to filter saved content. A Subscriber or higher can store code that is later executed as PHP or served unescaped to site visitors. The settings-page route, option enabling access, input fields and execution function are unspecified. Exploitability is conditional on that access configuration, not established for the default setup.	2.8.19	CVE7.5 NVDPending
Sep 16, 2026	CVE-2026-11984 Ad Inserter exposes disabled header and footer code through public debugging Through 2.8.16, an unauthenticated requester can use the ai-debug-code URL parameter to retrieve administrator-configured header and footer code, including disabled blocks, because the debugging path lacks a capability check. The useful chaining primitive is disclosure of otherwise hidden configuration content; the export does not establish that every installation stores secrets there. The official 2.8.17 changelog explicitly fixes unauthenticated header/footer code disclosure.	2.8.17	CVE5.3 NVDPending
Jul 13, 2026	CVE-2026-57693 Ad Inserter: Cross-site scripting Ad Inserter is affected by cross-site scripting. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. Injected script can execute in the affected site's origin when the vulnerable output is viewed. The published affected range is <= 2.8.11.	2.8.12	CVE6.5 NVDPending
Jul 03, 2026	CVE-2026-11900 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads: Broken access control Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads is affected by broken access control. Exploitation requires an authenticated contributor account. A successful request can reach data or an operation that should be restricted to another user or a more privileged role. The published affected range is <= 2.8.16.	See mitigation notes	CVE4.3 NVDPending
Jun 06, 2026	CVE-2026-9280 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads: Cross-site scripting Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads is affected by cross-site scripting. The vulnerable path is reachable without authentication. Injected script can execute in the affected site's origin when the vulnerable output is viewed. The published affected range is <= 2.8.15.	See mitigation notes	CVE6.1 NVDPending
Nov 05, 2025	CVE-2025-11745 Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads: Cross-site scripting Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads is affected by cross-site scripting. Exploitation requires an authenticated contributor account. Injected script can execute in the affected site's origin when the vulnerable output is viewed.	See mitigation notes	CVE6.4 NVDPending
Mar 06, 2025	CVE-2025-22623 Ad Inserter: A security weakness Ad Inserter is affected by a security weakness. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. The resulting impact depends on how the affected component exposes the vulnerable operation.	See mitigation notes	CVE5.1 NVDPending
Oct 17, 2024	CVE-2024-49248 Ad Inserter: Cross-site scripting Ad Inserter is affected by cross-site scripting. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. Injected script can execute in the affected site's origin when the vulnerable output is viewed.	See mitigation notes	CVE7.1 NVDPending
Oct 20, 2023	CVE-2023-4668 Ad Inserter: Sensitive information exposure Ad Inserter is affected by sensitive information exposure. The vulnerable path is reachable without authentication. Successful exploitation can disclose data that should not be available to the caller.	See mitigation notes	CVE5.3 NVD7.5
Oct 19, 2023	CVE-2023-4645 Ad Inserter: Sensitive information exposure Ad Inserter is affected by sensitive information exposure. The vulnerable path is reachable without authentication. Successful exploitation can disclose data that should not be available to the caller.	See mitigation notes	CVE5.3 NVD5.3
May 15, 2023	CVE-2023-1549 Ad Inserter: Code execution Ad Inserter is affected by code execution. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. Successful exploitation can run attacker-controlled code in the WordPress hosting account.	See mitigation notes	CVE7.2 NVD7.2
Apr 04, 2022	CVE-2022-0901 Ad Inserter: Cross-site scripting Ad Inserter is affected by cross-site scripting. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. Injected script can execute in the affected site's origin when the vulnerable output is viewed.	See mitigation notes	CVEPending NVD6.1
Oct 22, 2019	CVE-2015-9497 Ad Inserter: Cross-site scripting Ad Inserter is affected by cross-site scripting. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. Injected script can execute in the affected site's origin when the vulnerable output is viewed.	See mitigation notes	CVEPending NVD8.8
Aug 22, 2019	CVE-2019-15324 Ad Inserter: Code execution Ad Inserter is affected by code execution. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. Successful exploitation can run attacker-controlled code in the WordPress hosting account.	See mitigation notes	CVEPending NVD8.8
Aug 22, 2019	CVE-2019-15323 Ad Inserter: Filesystem traversal Ad Inserter is affected by filesystem traversal. Exposure depends on how the affected operation is made reachable by the site. A crafted path can escape the intended directory and reach files or directories elsewhere on the server.	See mitigation notes	CVEPending NVD7.5

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