CVE-2022-21662 [High] | XSS in Wordpress

WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MariaDB database. Low-privileged authenticated users (like author) in WordPress core are able to execute JavaScript/perform stored XSS attack, which can affect high-privileged users. This has been patched in WordPress version 5.8.3. Older affected versions are also fixed via security release, that go back till 3.7.37. We strongly recommend that you keep auto-updates enabled. There are no known workarounds for this issue.

#	Date	Old EPSS score	New EPSS score	Delta (New - Old)
1	2026-07-11	63.42%	63.71%	+0.29%
2	2026-06-28	64.71%	63.42%	-1.29%
3	2026-06-15	—	64.71%	—

Date

Old EPSS score

New EPSS score

Delta (New - Old)

2026-07-11

63.42%

63.71%

+0.29%

2026-06-28

64.71%

63.42%

-1.29%

2026-06-15

—

64.71%

—

Base score	Version	Severity	Vector	Exploitability	Impact	Score source
8.0	3.1	HIGH	`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/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: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: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: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.	1.3	6.0	[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

8.0

3.1

HIGH

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/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: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: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: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.

1.3

6.0

[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-2022-21662

vendor	priority	summary	link
`debian`	not yet assigned	CVE-2022-21662 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-2022-21662
`ubuntu`	medium	CVE-2022-21662 medium 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): not-affected 8, ignored 3, needs-triage 3, released 1.	https://ubuntu.com/security/CVE-2022-21662

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-21662

Vendor	Product	Version	Raw CPE
wordpress	wordpress	< 5.8.3	cpe:2.3:a:wordpress:wordpress::::::::
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:::::::*
debian	debian_linux	11.0	cpe:2.3:o:debian:debian_linux:11.0:::::::*

References for CVE-2022-21662

URL	Tags
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-699q-3hj9-889w	Third Party Advisory
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00019.html	Mailing List Third Party Advisory
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CV4UNEC63UU5GEU47IIR4RMTZAHNEOJG/
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DM6XPH3JN6V4NF4WBOJTOXZIVE6VKKE3/
https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-security-release/	Release Notes Vendor Advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5039	Third Party Advisory

URL

CVE-2022-21662 | Stored XSS in WordPress

Exploit prediction scoring system (EPSS) score for CVE-2022-21662

Common vulnerability scoring system (CVSS) metrics for CVE-2022-21662

Weakness enumeration for CVE-2022-21662

OS Trackers for CVE-2022-21662

Affected software / configurations for CVE-2022-21662

References for CVE-2022-21662