WordPressCMS
CVE-2019-17674
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedWordPress before 5.2.4 is vulnerable to stored XSS (cross-site scripting) via the Customizer.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidenceWordPress before 5.2.4 contains a stored XSS vulnerability in the Customizer feature that allows authenticated users with customizer access to inject malicious JavaScript code that persists on the site.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
WordPressCMS
< 5.2.4
Debian LinuxOperating system
= 9.0= 10.0CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
-
Determine installed WordPress versionCheck the version.php file in the WordPress wp-includes directory, or look at the footer of any WordPress admin page, or use wp-cli: wp core versionAffected if Version is less than 5.2.4 (e.g., 5.2.3, 5.2.2, etc.)
-
Confirm WordPress is the Debian-packaged versionIf running Debian Linux, check the installed package version with: dpkg -l | grep wordpress or apt-cache policy wordpressAffected if Debian package version is vulnerable per the Debian version mapping to WordPress < 5.2.4
-
Identify users with Customizer accessReview user roles and capabilities in WordPress admin under Users > All Users, specifically checking for roles that have the 'edit_theme_options' or 'customize' capabilityAffected if Any user account exists with Customizer access beyond administrators (such as editors, authors, or custom roles with customizer capability) and WordPress version is vulnerable
-
Inspect Customizer settings for persistenceQuery the wp_options table for option_name values containing 'theme_mods_' or 'stylesheet' to see if Customizer settings are stored; check for any recently modified theme customization recordsAffected if Customizer settings are stored in the database and the WordPress version is vulnerable, meaning injected JavaScript could persist
You are affected if your installed WordPress version is below 5.2.4 AND you have users with Customizer access (edit_theme_options capability) beyond trusted administrators.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
From vendor data5.2.4
Upgrade WordPress to version 5.2.4 or later to patch this vulnerability.
Fix this in WordPress
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA1.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,376.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2019-17674 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2019-17674 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
Be the first to add a field note for this CVE — a mitigation you’ve verified, a version caveat, or a link to a working fix. Sign in above to contribute.
A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.
- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
- No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data