Vulnerability in WordPress
CVE-2023-22622
WordPress through 6.1.1 depends on unpredictable client visits to cause wp-cron.php execution and the resulting security updates, and the source code describes "the scenario where a site may not receive enough visits to execute scheduled tasks in a timely manner," but neither the installation guide nor the security guide mentions this default behavior, or alerts the user about security risks on installations with very few visits.
Published · last modified .
CVSS v3 metric
CVSS v3 base score 5.3 (Medium). Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:A/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:N/A:H.
EPSS exploit prediction
EPSS: 0.017 (75.7th percentile), scored .
Low probability of exploitation in the next 30 days, but still tracked. 76th percentile — 75.7% of CVEs in the catalogue have a lower EPSS than this one. How to read EPSS.
EPSS over last 30 days · oldest: 0.017 · newest: 0.017 · change: 0.000
Affected products
Public proof-of-concept exploits
References
- medium.com/@thecpanelguy/the-nightmare-that-is-wpcron-php-ae31c1d3ae30
- www.tenable.com/plugins/was/113449 (Third Party Advisory)
- github.com/WordPress/WordPress/blob/dca7b5204b5fea54e6d1774689777b359a9222ab/wp… (Third Party Advisory)
- developer.wordpress.org/plugins/cron/ (Product, Vendor Advisory)
- wordpress.org/about/security/ (Vendor Advisory)
- wordpress.org/support/article/how-to-install-wordpress/ (Vendor Advisory)
- patchstack.com/articles/solving-unpredictable-wp-cron-problems-addressing-cve-2… (Third Party Advisory)
Frequently asked questions
- What is CVE-2023-22622?
- CVE-2023-22622 is a medium-severity vulnerability in WordPress. CVSS score: 5.3/10. Published 2023-01-05.
- How severe is CVE-2023-22622?
- Medium severity. CVSS v3 base score is 5.3 out of 10.
- Is CVE-2023-22622 known to be exploited?
- 6 public proof-of-concept repositories are indexed. Not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.