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Vulnerability · Published Jun 12, 2020 · Assigned by GitHub_M

CVE-2020-4050set-screen-option filter misuse by plugins leading to privilege escalation in WordPress

Low 3.5

In plain English

A low-severity authentication bypass in wordpress-develop from WordPress. There are no confirmed reports of exploitation so far. The chance it is exploited in the next 30 days is estimated at 1.4% (higher than 73% of all known vulnerabilities). Fixed versions are available - upgrade the affected package.

Severity (CVSS 3.1)3.5Low
Exploit odds (30 days)1.4%top 27.1% of all CVEs
Exploited in the wildNo reportsnot in CISA KEV
Attack toolingNoneno public tooling known

Official description

In affected versions of WordPress, misuse of the `set-screen-option` filter's return value allows arbitrary user meta fields to be saved. It does require an admin to install a plugin that would misuse the filter. Once installed, it can be leveraged by low privileged users. This has been patched in version 5.4.2, along with all the previously affected versions via a minor release (5.3.4, 5.2.7, 5.1.6, 5.0.10, 4.9.15, 4.8.14, 4.7.18, 4.6.19, 4.5.22, 4.4.23, 4.3.24, 4.2.28, 4.1.31, 4.0.31, 3.9.32, 3.8.34, 3.7.34).

Affected packages & fixed versions

EcosystemPackageFixed inAdvisory
Debian:12wordpress5.4.2+dfsg1-1DEBIAN-CVE-2020-4050
Debian:13wordpress5.4.2+dfsg1-1DEBIAN-CVE-2020-4050
Debian:14wordpress5.4.2+dfsg1-1DEBIAN-CVE-2020-4050
Ubuntu:22.04:LTSwordpressno fix listedUBUNTU-CVE-2020-4050

Affected products (as reported)

VendorProductVersions
WordPress wordpress-develop >= 5.4.0, < 5.4.2>= 5.3.0, < 5.3.4>= 5.2.0, < 5.2.7>= 5.1.0, < 5.1.6>= 5.0.0, < 5.0.10>= 4.9.0, < 4.9.15>= 4.8.0, < 4.8.14>= 4.7.0, < 4.7.18

Weakness: CWE-288 · Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N

References