# CVE-2026-120551: WP Compress <= 7.22.01 - Missing Authorization to Unauthenticated Account Linking / Site Takeover via 'force_ic_connect' and 'apikey' Parameters

Status: published. Published: 2026-11-03. Updated: 2026-11-07.

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.

## Remediation

No remediation reported in collected sources

## Affected products and versions

- aresit / WP Compress – Instant Performance & Speed Optimization: ≥ 0; ≤ 7.22.01 (affected, semver). Source: CNA: Wordfence

## Severity and prioritization

- CVSS 3.1: 5.3 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N; source: CNA: Wordfence

- CVSS 3.1: 5.3 (medium); CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N; source: NVD: security@wordfence.com

- CISA KEV: No listing in collected sources

- EPSS: 0.25% as of 2026-11-06; percentile 16.19%

- SSVC: exploitation none; automatable yes; technical impact partial; source ADP: CISA-ADP

- Weaknesses: CWE-862

## Exploit evidence

No exploit evidence in collected sources. This is not proof of no exploitation.

## References

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/42d4ec8b-d3ed-4aa3-a8b9-cddaf64a7531?source=cve (CNA: Wordfence)

- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/mainwp.class.php#L29 (CNA: Wordfence)

- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/mainwp.class.php#L9 (CNA: Wordfence)

- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/connect.class.php#L103 (CNA: Wordfence)

- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3680035%40wp-compress-image-optimizer&new=3680035%40wp-compress-image-optimizer (CNA: Wordfence)

- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/connect.class.php#L103 (security@wordfence.com)

- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/mainwp.class.php#L29 (security@wordfence.com)

- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/browser/wp-compress-image-optimizer/tags/7.21.27/classes/mainwp.class.php#L9 (security@wordfence.com)

- https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset?reponame=&old=3680035%40wp-compress-image-optimizer&new=3680035%40wp-compress-image-optimizer (security@wordfence.com)

- https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/42d4ec8b-d3ed-4aa3-a8b9-cddaf64a7531?source=cve (security@wordfence.com)

## Provenance

- CNA: Wordfence: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2026-120551; retrieved 2026-11-07; source updated 2026-11-07

- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-120551; retrieved 2026-11-03; source updated 2026-11-03

- FIRST EPSS: https://api.first.org/data/v1/epss?cve=CVE-2026-120551; retrieved 2026-11-07; source updated Not reported

Revision: 49ca88c4d5702b6a63e40ce3c859d46bc438e2ee833bc6d5a657b529f58d5f65

Canonical: https://y2.dev/cve/CVE-2026-120551

## Agent and API access

Public CVE pages, Markdown, and JSON are free to read without an account or API key.

- Public catalog: https://y2.dev/cve/index.json. Follow nextCursor with the same search, filters, sort, and limit (1–100). A null cursor marks the end.

- WebMCP: search_cve_disclosures, get_cve_disclosure, get_cve_page_markdown, get_y2_cve_access. Available in compatible browsers.

- Cyber API: https://api.y2.dev/api/v2/cyber/cves and https://api.y2.dev/api/v2/cyber/cves/{cveId}.

- Y2 Pro or Elite: create a workspace API key with the intel:cyber scope and send Authorization: Bearer <Y2_API_KEY>. Setup: https://y2.dev/docs/api/create-key.

- x402: Pay per request without an account or API key. Omit Authorization, read the HTTP 402 PAYMENT-REQUIRED challenge, validate its current requirements, and retry with PAYMENT-SIGNATURE through an authorized payment client. These browser tools never make payments. Guide: https://y2.dev/docs/api/x402.

- OpenAPI: https://y2.dev/api/openapi.yaml. Agent access metadata: https://y2.dev/cve/agent.json.

Collected public records only. Check source status for coverage and freshness.