CVE-2026-104755
Description
The WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Privilege Escalation in all versions up to, and including, 7.25.00 The vulnerability exists because the `start_comms` dispatcher (`wps_ic_comms::start_comms`), hooked on every front-end request, gates access only by comparing the caller-supplied `apikey` parameter against the stored plugin API key with no WordPress capability check and no nonce verification, then passes the unvalidated `group`, `setting`, and `value` parameters directly to `change_setting()`, which writes them into the `WPS_IC_SETTINGS` option without an allow-list. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to write arbitrary permission keys into the plugin's settings, causing `wps_ic_users::checkAndAddCaps()` to grant any WordPress role — including Subscriber — the `manage_wpc_settings` capability and thereby achieve plugin-administrator-equivalent control over the plugin's optimization, CDN, and critical-CSS surfaces. The API key required to pass the authorization check can itself be obtained without authentication via the `wpc_send_critical_remote` nopriv AJAX action: when the external critical-CSS service returns an `apiResults` field, `initCritical()` echoes the stored plugin API key back to the caller in a `wp_send_json_success` response, completing the exploit chain entirely without a WordPress login.
Predictions
Heuristic predictions, AS-IS, for prioritization only.
Mitigations
No mitigations published for this CVE yet.
The vendor-content worker queues fetches as references arrive (check back in a few minutes). Or — if you've already worked around this in production — publish your fix to the community-verified tier.
Propose a mitigation on Community Mitigations published via the community go through AI scoring + 2 human reviewers + 7-day silent objection window before landing here withsource_tier=community-verified.
References
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.10.03/addons/criticalCss/criticalCss.php#L409
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.10.03/classes/ajax.class.php#L816
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.10.03/classes/comms.class.php#L1042
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.10.03/classes/comms.class.php#L49
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.10.03/classes/users.class.php#L30
- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&new=3734610%40wp-compress-image-optimizer%2Ftags%2F7.26.00&old=3723132%40wp-compress-image-optimizer%2Ftags%2F7.25.00
- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/67e9bfb8-b274-422a-a50d-a6b6b24bb193?source=cve
CWEs
CWE-269
Community-verified mitigations for this CVE will appear above when contributors publish them.
Verify integrity in audit chain (admin only). AS-IS.