WordPressCMS
CVE-2020-28034
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 5.5.2 allows XSS associated with global variables.
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 version 5.5.2 contains a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability related to improper handling of global variables. This allows attackers to inject malicious scripts through global variable inputs that are not properly sanitized before being rendered in the browser.
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
< 5.5.2
FedoraOperating system
= 31= 32= 33
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
- None
- User interaction
- Required
- Scope
- Changed
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/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.
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Check WordPress version in version.phpOpen the file wp-includes/version.php and look for the $wp_version variable. The file contains a line like $wp_version = 'x.x.x'; which shows your installed version.Affected if The version number is less than 5.5.2 (for example, 5.5.1, 5.5.0, 5.4.x, etc.)
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Check WordPress version via readme.htmlOpen the readme.html file in your WordPress root directory. The first line typically contains 'Version x.x.x' which indicates the installed version.Affected if The version shown is less than 5.5.2
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Check WordPress version in admin dashboardLog into the WordPress admin dashboard and navigate to the About page (usually at /wp-admin/about.php). The page displays the current WordPress version.Affected if The version displayed is less than 5.5.2
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Check via WordPress generator meta tagView the source code of any frontend page of your WordPress site and look for a meta tag like '<meta name="generator" content="WordPress x.x.x" />' which reveals the installed version.Affected if The version in the generator tag is less than 5.5.2
You are affected if your WordPress installation version is below 5.5.2, regardless of the operating system or hosting platform.
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 data5.5.2
Upgrade WordPress to version 5.5.2 or later to patch the XSS vulnerability. Before upgrading, ensure all plugins and themes are compatible with the new version.
Fix this in WordPress
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation2.0 h
- Testing4.0 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 $2,464.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-28034 — 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-2020-28034 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
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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