---
id: CVE-2026-120551
title: >-
  WP Compress <= 7.22.01 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Account
  Linking / Site Takeover via 'force_ic_connect' and 'apikey' Parameters
summary: >-
  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 authoriz…
severity: medium
cvss: 5.3
cvssVector: 'CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N'
cvssSource: cna
cwe:
  - CWE-862
vendor: aresit
product: WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization
affected:
  - wp_compress_instant_performance_speed_optimization <= 7.22.01
ssvc:
  exploitation: none
  automatable: 'yes'
  technicalImpact: partial
  timestamp: '2026-11-07T02:31:11.331369Z'
published: '2026-11-03'
updated: '2026-11-07'
sourceUpdated: '2026-11-07T02:31:21.095Z'
source: CVEORG
sourceUrl: 'https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-120551'
references:
  - url: >-
      https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/42d4ec8b-d3ed-4aa3-a8b9-cddaf64a7531?source=cve
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/mainwp.class.php#L29
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/mainwp.class.php#L9
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/connect.class.php#L103
  - url: >-
      https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3680035%40wp-compress-image-optimizer&new=3680035%40wp-compress-image-optimizer
tags:
  - cve.org
epss: 0.00248
epssPercentile: 0.16188
ingestedAt: '2026-11-05T19:30:42.890Z'
---

## Overview

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.

## Affected

- `wp_compress_instant_performance_speed_optimization <= 7.22.01`

## Remediation

Refer to the linked advisories for vendor-supplied fixes and affected version ranges.