CyberSecBulletin
CVE-2026-8181NVD status: Deferred

Burst Statistics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress…: Improper Authentication

Published Updated By the CyberSecBulletin desk

CVE-2026-8181 is a critical-severity improper authentication vulnerability in Burst Statistics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) from Burstbv, with a CVSS 3.1 base score of 9.8 out of 10. It can be exploited remotely over the network by an unauthenticated attacker, without any action from a user. Affected Burst Statistics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) versions: 3.4.0 through 3.4.1.1. The record does not name a fixed version, so check the vendor advisory. There is no confirmed exploitation so far. EPSS estimates a 14.6% chance of exploitation within 30 days, which is in the top 3.29% of all scored CVEs.

Patch this week

Critical severity: a successful attack would have severe impact.

What to do

  1. Check which version of Burst Statistics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative) you run against the affected versions below, and install the vendor's latest release.
  2. Until you can update, restrict network access to the affected service so it is not reachable from untrusted networks.

Affected products and versions

VendorProductAffected versionsFixed in
BurstbvBurst Statistics – Privacy-Friendly WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative)3.4.0 through 3.4.1.1Not stated

Version data comes from the organisation that assigned the CVE. Confirm against the vendor advisory before deciding you are unaffected.

How the severity score breaks down

Attack vector
NetworkCan be exploited remotely over a network, including the internet.
Attack complexity
LowNo special conditions are needed; the attack works reliably.
Privileges required
NoneNo account or login is needed.
User interaction
NoneNo action by a victim is required.
Scope
UnchangedImpact stays within the vulnerable component.
Confidentiality
HighAll data handled by the component can be read.
Integrity
HighData or code can be modified at will.
Availability
HighThe component can be taken down completely.

Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H. Scored by CNA (wordfence.com).

Official description

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.

Source: the CVE record as published by its numbering authority, via NVD and CVE.org.

The underlying weakness: Improper Authentication

When an actor claims to have a given identity, the product does not prove or insufficiently proves that the claim is correct.

How developers prevent this class of flaw

  • Use an authentication framework or library such as the OWASP ESAPI Authentication feature.

More Improper Authentication vulnerabilities (CWE-287)

Timeline

  1. CVE record published.
  2. CISA published its SSVC assessment (exploitation: none, automatable: yes, technical impact: total).
  3. Record last changed materially (score, affected products, status or references).

References

Other references

Recent Improper Authentication vulnerabilities

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