CVE-2026-19902 PUBLISHED

Ad Inserter <= 2.8.18 - Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via {search-query} Dynamic Tag (Referer Header)

Assigner: Wordfence
Reserved: 14.08.2026 Published: 01.10.2026 Updated: 01.10.2026

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 /.\/.[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.

Metrics

CVSS Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
CVSS Score: 6.1

Product Status

Vendor spacetime
Product Ad Inserter – Ad Manager & AdSense Ads
Versions Default: unaffected
  • affected from 0 to 2.8.18 (incl.)

Credits

  • Yuto Hyakumoto finder

References

Problem Types

  • CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') CWE