Is CVE-2026-8181 actively exploited?

Yes. CVE-2026-8181 is listed in the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, which means exploitation in the wild has been confirmed.

Can CVE-2026-8181 be exploited remotely?

Yes. CVE-2026-8181 is exploitable remotely over the network (CVSS attack vector: Network).

What is the CVSS score of CVE-2026-8181?

CVE-2026-8181 has a CVSS score of 9.8 (CRITICAL).

HOME VULNERABILITIESCVE-2026-8181

CRITICALCISA KEVIN THE WILD

CVE-2026-8181

CWE-287Published: May 14, 2026· Updated: May 14, 2026

9.8

CVSS v3.1

EPSS:0.26%probability of exploitation in 30 daysPercentile:49.5th

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.

NVD Source

Technical Analysis

CVE-2026-8181 can be exploited remotely over the network without requiring physical or adjacent access, significantly expanding the attack surface for threat actors.

The vulnerability requires no privileges and no user interaction, making it a prime target for automated exploitation campaigns and worm-like propagation.

A successful exploit results in complete confidentiality breach (data exposure), full integrity compromise (data manipulation), availability disruption (denial of service), with a CVSS base score of 9.8.

CISA has added CVE-2026-8181 to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, confirming active exploitation in the wild. U.S. federal agencies are required to patch this within the mandated timeframe, and all organizations should treat remediation as urgent.

From a weakness classification perspective (CWE-287): Authentication bypass vulnerabilities allow attackers to access protected resources without valid credentials.