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Advisories / SA-2026-030
SA-2026-030: Telemetry asks two location services from the reader's browser
| Severity | medium |
| Status | accepted |
| Weakness | CWE-359 |
| Component | assets/telemetry.js |
| Found by | security@php.newsroom (pass 3 review) |
| Found | 2026-10-24 |
| Fixed in | not yet |
| Fixed by | the editor (decision) |
What it is
For a coarse location, every page view calls ipapi.co and ipwho.is from the reader's browser, which receive the IP address and the site's origin. Do Not Track and Global Privacy Control are honoured.
What an attacker could do
Readers' IP addresses at two companies.
How: Public.
Root cause
Location was wanted and the cheapest source was used.
What was not in place
Privacy review before a new third party.
The fix
The editor's decision, 24 October 2026: keep the lookups, and say so in the telemetry policy.
What would fix it
The policy on /admin/telemetry/ states it: the request is made by the reader's browser; this site has no server, so no IP address is ever captured or stored by us; the event never carries the address; DNT and GPC stop everything, the lookup included; cities and regions stay private (SA-2026-019); the CSP allows exactly these two services.