CVE-2021-39201 [High] | XSS in Wordpress

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. ### Impact The issue allows an authenticated but low-privileged user (like contributor/author) to execute XSS in the editor. This bypasses the restrictions imposed on users who do not have the permission to post `unfiltered_html`. ### Patches This has been patched in WordPress 5.8, and will be pushed to older versions via minor releases (automatic updates). It's strongly recommended that you keep auto-updates enabled to receive the fix. ### References https://wordpress.org/news/category/releases/ https://hackerone.com/reports/1142140 ### For more information If you have any questions or comments about this advisory: * Open an issue in [HackerOne](https://hackerone.com/wordpress)

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-06-15	0.51%	1.50%	+0.99%
2	2026-03-04	0.43%	0.51%	+0.08%
3	2026-03-01	—	0.43%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-06-15

0.51%

1.50%

+0.99%

2026-03-04

0.43%

0.51%

+0.08%

2026-03-01

—

0.43%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
7.6	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/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:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:C) Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius. Confidentiality (C:H) Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big 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.	2.3	4.7	[email protected]
5.4	3.1	MEDIUM	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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:L) Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup. Privileges required (PR:L) A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin. User interaction (UI:R) A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land. Scope (S:C) Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius. Confidentiality (C:L) Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump. 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.	2.3	2.7	[email protected]
3.5	2.0	LOW	`AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N` 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:N) No confidentiality impact. Integrity impact (I:P) Partial integrity impact. Availability impact (A:N) No availability impact.	6.8	2.9	[email protected]

Base score

Version

Severity

Vector

Exploitability

Impact

Score source

7.6

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/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:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C): Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:H): Serious risk that confidential data gets exposed in a big 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.

2.3

4.7

[email protected]

5.4

3.1

MEDIUM

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/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:L): Once they can reach the bug, pulling it off is straightforward—no weird race conditions or rare setup.
Privileges required (PR:L): A normal user session is enough; they don’t have to be admin.
User interaction (UI:R): A real person has to do something—click, install, enable—otherwise it doesn’t land.
Scope (S:C): Breaking this can reach past the original component and bite other resources—bigger blast radius.
Confidentiality (C:L): Some sensitive info could get out, but not a total data dump.
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.

2.3

2.7

[email protected]

3.5

2.0

LOW

AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N 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:N): No confidentiality impact.
Integrity impact (I:P): Partial integrity impact.
Availability impact (A:N): No availability impact.

6.8

2.9

[email protected]

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-39201

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2021-39201 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-2021-39201
`ubuntu`	low	CVE-2021-39201 low priority: Ubuntu including 1 source packages (wordpress), 15 status rows across 15 suites (bionic, focal, hirsute, impish, jammy, kinetic, lunar, mantic, noble, oracular, plucky, questing, trusty, upstream, xenial): ignored 7, needs-triage 7, DNE 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2021-39201

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-39201

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
wordpress	wordpress	>= 5.0, < 5.8	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
debian	debian_linux	10.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:10.0:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	11.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2021-39201

URL	Tags
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-wh69-25hr-h94v	Third Party Advisory
https://hackerone.com/reports/1142140	Permissions Required
https://www.debian.org/security/2021/dsa-4985	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2021-39201 | Authenticated cross-site scripting (XSS) in WordPress editor

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2021-39201

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2021-39201

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2021-39201

OS Trackers for CVE-2021-39201

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2021-39201

References for CVE-2021-39201