CVE-2020-28037

is_blog_installed in wp-includes/functions.php in WordPress before 5.5.2 improperly determines whether WordPress is already installed, which might allow an attacker to perform a new installation, leading to remote code execution (as well as a denial of service for the old installation).

Published: 2020-11-02 Last update: 2026-06-16 Assigner: [email protected] Source: [email protected]
NVD Status：Modified，CVE State: published
View at NVD, CVE.org, EUVD

CVE-2020-28037 is rated High Risk (67/100): CVSS Critical severity, with high exploitation likelihood (EPSS 7.74%, 94th percentile). EPSS ranks this CVE among the most likely to be exploited in the near term. High exploitation likelihood—assess exposure and prioritize remediation.

Risk is dynamic; we continuously reassess and refresh what is shown on this page as upstream context changes.

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-28037

EPSS lead: Daily EPSS estimates relative likelihood of exploitation; percentile ranks this CVE among scored vulnerabilities (higher = more severe relative rank).

# Date Old EPSS score New EPSS score Delta (New - Old)
1 2026-06-15 14.05% 7.74% -6.31%
2 2026-05-20 12.73% 14.05% +1.32%
3 2026-03-04 — 12.73% —

Full EPSS history (62 records total)

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-28037

CVSS metrics for this CVE.

Base score Version Severity Vector Exploitability Impact Score source
9.8 3.1 CRITICAL
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H Click to expand
Attack vector (AV:N)
Could be attacked over the internet or any normal routed network—not just someone sitting at the machine.
Attack complexity (AC:L)
Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:N)
No account or special rights needed—anonymous or random user is enough.
User interaction (UI:N)
Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:U)
Damage stays in the same “trust bubble” as the broken component—no big spill into unrelated systems.
Confidentiality (C:H)
Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big way.
Integrity (I:H)
They could widely tamper with or forge data—trust in the data is badly hurt.
Availability (A:H)
Could take the service down hard or make it unusable for people who depend on it.
 3.9 5.9 [email protected]
7.5 2.0 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/Au:N/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand
Access vector (AV:N)
Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:L)
Exploitation conditions are straightforward and predictable.
Authentication (AU:N)
No authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P)
Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P)
Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P)
Partial availability impact.
 10.0 6.4 [email protected]

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-28037

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-28037

vendor priority summary link
debian not yet assigned CVE-2020-28037 not yet assigned priority: Debian including 1 source packages (wordpress), 5 status rows across 5 suites (bookworm, bullseye, forky, sid, trixie): resolved 5. https://security-tracker.debian.org/tracker/CVE-2020-28037
ubuntu medium CVE-2020-28037 medium priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (wordpress), 16 status rows across 16 suites (bionic, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 8, needs-triage 7, DNE 1. https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-28037

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-28037

Vendor Product Version Raw CPE
wordpress wordpress < 5.5.2 cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 31 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:31:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 32 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:32:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
fedoraproject fedora 33 cpe:2.3:o:fedoraproject:fedora:33:*:*:*:*:*:*:*
debian debian_linux 10.0 cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:*:*:*:*:*:*:*

References for CVE-2020-28037

URL Tags
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/2ca15d1e5ce70493c5c0c096ca0c76503d6da07c Patch Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/11/msg00004.html Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CHHVNK2WYAM3ZTCXTFSEIT56IKLVJHU3/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VAVVYJKA2I6CRQUINECDPBGWMQDEG244/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VUXVUAKL2HL4QYJEPHBNVQQWRMFMII2Y/
https://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-5-2-security-and-maintenance-release/ Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://wpscan.com/vulnerability/10450 Third Party Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4784 Third Party Advisory
cvelogic Threat Intelligence