XSS in Wordpress

CVE-2019-20042

In wp-includes/formatting.php in WordPress 3.7 to 5.3.0, the function wp_targeted_link_rel() can be used in a particular way to result in a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. This has been patched in WordPress 5.3.1, along with all the previous WordPress versions from 3.7 to 5.3 via a minor release.

Vulnerability class: XSS (Cross-Site Scripting)

EPSS: 0.028 (84.8th percentile) — read the EPSS interpretation.

CVSS v3 metric

CVSS v3 base score 6.1 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N.

Affected products

Weakness classification (CWE)

Public proof-of-concept exploits

References

Frequently asked questions

What is CVE-2019-20042?
CVE-2019-20042 is a medium-severity vulnerability in Wordpress, classified under Cross-site Scripting. CVSS score: 6.1/10. Published 2019-12-27.
How severe is CVE-2019-20042?
Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 6.1 out of 10.
Is CVE-2019-20042 known to be exploited?
7 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.