CVE-2020-4050 [Low] | Privilege Escalation in Wordpress

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).

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	2.42%	1.73%	-0.69%
2	2026-03-04	1.86%	2.42%	+0.56%
3	2026-03-01	—	1.86%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

2.42%

1.73%

-0.69%

2026-03-04

1.86%

2.42%

+0.56%

2026-03-01

—

1.86%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
3.5	3.1	LOW	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N` 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:H) Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:N) Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping. Scope (S:C) Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius. Confidentiality (C:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:L) Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	1.8	1.4	[email protected]
3.1	3.1	LOW	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N` 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:H) Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. 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:N) Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way. Integrity (I:L) Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes. Availability (A:N) Service keeps running; no real outage angle.	1.6	1.4	[email protected]
6.0	2.0	MEDIUM	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P` Click to expand Access vector (AV:N) Can be exploited remotely over network reachability. Access complexity (AC:M) Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones. Authentication (AU:S) A single authentication is required. Confidentiality impact (C:P) Partial confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:P) Partial availability impact.	6.8	6.4	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

3.5

3.1

LOW

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:N 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:H): Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:N): Nobody has to click “OK” or open a trap file; it can work without a victim helping.
Scope (S:C): Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L): Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

1.8

1.4

[email protected]

3.1

LOW

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:L/A:N 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:H): Even with access, the exploit needs extra luck, timing, or a fussy environment to actually work.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
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:N): Doesn’t really leak secrets in a meaningful way.
Integrity (I:L): Attackers could change some data, but it’s limited—not everything goes.
Availability (A:N): Service keeps running; no real outage angle.

1.6

1.4

[email protected]

6.0

2.0

MEDIUM

AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:P/I:P/A:P Click to expand

Access vector (AV:N): Can be exploited remotely over network reachability.
Access complexity (AC:M): Exploitation needs some favorable conditions, but not exceptional ones.
Authentication (AU:S): A single authentication is required.
Confidentiality impact (C:P): Partial confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:P): Partial availability impact.

6.8

6.4

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-4050

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2020-4050 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-2020-4050
`ubuntu`	low	CVE-2020-4050 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (wordpress), 17 status rows across 17 suites (bionic, eoan, focal, groovy, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): not-affected 6, ignored 5, needs-triage 4, DNE 1, released 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2020-4050

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-4050

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
wordpress	wordpress	>= 3.7, < 3.7.34	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 3.8, < 3.8.34	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 3.9, < 3.9.32	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.0, < 4.0.31	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.1, < 4.1.31	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.2, < 4.2.28	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.3, < 4.3.24	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.4, < 4.4.23	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.5, < 4.5.22	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.6, < 4.6.19	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.7, < 4.7.18	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.8, < 4.8.14	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 4.9, < 4.9.15	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 5.0, < 5.0.10	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 5.1, < 5.1.6	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 5.2, < 5.2.7	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 5.3.0, < 5.3.4	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
wordpress	wordpress	>= 5.4, < 5.4.2	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:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	8.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:8.0:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	9.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:9.0:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	10.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2020-4050

URL	Tags
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/b8dea76b495f0072523106c6ec46b9ea0d2a0920	Patch
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-4vpv-fgg2-gcqc	Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/07/msg00000.html	Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/09/msg00011.html	Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/773N2ZV7QEMBGKH6FBKI6Q5S3YJMW357/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/ODNHXVJS25YVWYQHOCICXTLIN5UYJFDN/
https://wordpress.org/news/2020/06/wordpress-5-4-2-security-and-maintenance-release/	Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4709	Third Party Advisory

URL

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

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2020-4050

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2020-4050

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2020-4050

OS Trackers for CVE-2020-4050

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2020-4050

References for CVE-2020-4050