WP Compress <= 7.22.01 — Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Account Linking / Site Takeover via 'force_ic_connect' and 'apikey' Parameters
CVE-2026-120551Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: ≤7.22.01Update to 7.22.38 or newer
All remediation steps- Severity
- Medium5.3
- CVSS
- 5.3CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:NWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:LAttack complexity- Low
PR:NPrivileges required- None
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:UScope- Unchanged
C:NConfidentiality- None
I:LIntegrity- Low
A:NAvailability- None
- Weakness
- CWE-862 Missing Authorization
- Required access
- No account needed
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- 0.2% chance in 30 days16th percentile
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page8
Am I affected?
WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization wp-compress-image-optimizer
- Affected≤ 7.22.01
- Patched in7.22.38
Update to 7.22.38 or newer.
You are affected if you run ≤ 7.22.01. Version 7.22.38 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
- No account is needed to exploit this. Treat any exposed site on an affected version as at risk.
What to do
- Update to version 7.22.38, or a newer patched version
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Wordfence PRISM.
The WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to authorization bypass in all versions up to, and including, 7.22.01. This is due to the plugin not properly verifying that a user is authorized to perform an action. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to link the victim site to an attacker-controlled WP Compress account, overwrite plugin settings to an aggressive live-CDN preset, and gain the shared api_key that authenticates all nopriv HMAC-gated endpoints — enabling full control over cache purging, file deletion, opcode cache invalidation, and other privileged plugin operations. This vulnerability only affects fresh installations or lite/free-mode installs where no api_key is already stored, as the sole guard fails open when the stored key is absent.
Exploits & references
Proof-of-concept & detection
No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.
Advisories & patches
- Advisorywordfence.com
Related CVEs
More in WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization
All 19| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| Medium4.8 | Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation to 'group'/'setting'/'value' Parameters on comms Endpoint ≤7.25.00Update to 7.26.00 | CVE-2026-104755 | |
| Medium5.3 | Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Settings Update ≤7.21.28Update to 7.22.0 | CVE-2026-84757 | |
| Critical9.8 | Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution <7.20.01Update to 7.20.01 | CVE-2026-73343 | |
| Medium6.5 | Cross-Site Request Forgery to Arbitrary Options Deletion ≤7.10.09Update to 7.20.01 | CVE-2026-17608 | |
| Medium6.1 | Reflected Cross-Site Scripting ≤7.10.3Update to 7.10.04 | CVE-2026-9066 |
- Medium4.8Unauthenticated Privilege Escalation to 'group'/'setting'/'value' Parameters on comms Endpoint
≤7.25.00Update to 7.26.00
- Medium5.3Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Settings Update
≤7.21.28Update to 7.22.0
- Critical9.8Unauthenticated Remote Code Execution
<7.20.01Update to 7.20.01
- Medium6.5Cross-Site Request Forgery to Arbitrary Options Deletion
≤7.10.09Update to 7.20.01
- Medium6.1Reflected Cross-Site Scripting
≤7.10.3Update to 7.10.04
Same weakness (Missing Authorization)
All Missing Authorization| Severity | Vulnerability | CVE | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| High7.2 | Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment User-Agent Header | CVE-2026-120688 | |
| Critical9.8 | Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload via File Upload via Public Form Submission | CVE-2026-125055 | |
| Critical9.8 | Unauthenticated PHP Object Injection to Remote Code Execution via 'form' Parameter | CVE-2026-119077 | |
| Medium5.3 | Unauthenticated Sensitive Information Exposure in 'search' Parameter | CVE-2026-121518 |
- High7.2Unauthenticated Stored Cross-Site Scripting via Comment User-Agent Header
EZ SQL Reports Shortcode Widget and DB Backup
≤5.25.25Update to 5.26.45
- Critical9.8Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload via File Upload via Public Form Submission
Chatterbug Forms – Fast, Flexible WordPress Form Builder
≤1.0.2Update to 1.1
- Critical9.8Unauthenticated PHP Object Injection to Remote Code Execution via 'form' Parameter
ELEX WordPress HelpDesk & Customer Ticketing System
≤3.3.9Update to 3.4.0
- Medium5.3Unauthenticated Sensitive Information Exposure in 'search' Parameter
Customer Reviews for WooCommerce
≤5.127.0Update to 5.128.0
Timeline
CVE published
Severity medium, CVSS 5.3
Record last updated
Sources & licenses
Wordfence record- Vulnerability data
- Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0.
- CVE® identifiers
- Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. Used under the CVE Program. CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
- CVSS / CWE
- National Vulnerability Database (NVD), shown unmodified. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- EPSS
- Exploit Prediction Scoring System by FIRST.org.
- VulnCrest content
- Summary, remediation guidance and page layout © VulnCrest. Not sourced from NVD.