Advanced Custom FieldsWordPress extension · Advancedcustomfields
CVE-2020-36172
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 · uneditedThe Advanced Custom Fields plugin before 5.8.12 for WordPress mishandles the escaping of strings in Select2 dropdowns, potentially leading to XSS.
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 confidenceThe Advanced Custom Fields WordPress plugin before version 5.8.12 contains a Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in its Select2 dropdown component. The plugin mishandles the escaping of strings rendered in Select2 select boxes, allowing attackers to inject malicious JavaScript that executes in the context of other users' browsers.
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
Advanced Custom FieldsWordPress extension
< 5.8.12CVSS 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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Locate the Advanced Custom Fields plugin installationAccess your WordPress site's wp-content/plugins/ directory and verify the 'advanced-custom-fields' folder exists, or check via WordPress admin under Plugins > Installed PluginsAffected if The plugin folder 'advanced-custom-fields' is present on the server
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Determine the installed plugin versionCheck the main plugin file (typically advanced-custom-fields/acf.php) for the 'Version:' header in the plugin comments, or query the wp_options table for the 'acf_version' option valueAffected if The version number returned is less than 5.8.12 (for example, 5.8.11, 5.8.10, 5.8.9, etc.)
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Verify Select2 dropdown fields are in useCheck your WordPress database in the wp_posts table for post_type 'acf-field' where the field type includes 'select', or inspect page source for Select2 JavaScript files (select2.min.js) loaded in the admin areaAffected if Select2-based select fields are actively configured and rendered on the site
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Confirm the vulnerability contextReview custom field groups in ACF admin interface, focusing on any 'Select' or 'Post Object' field types that utilize Select2 for rendering dropdown optionsAffected if Select2 dropdown fields are exposed to front-end users or admin users with lower privileges
You are affected if the Advanced Custom Fields plugin version is below 5.8.12 and Select2-based select fields are present on your site.
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 data5.8.12
Update the Advanced Custom Fields plugin to version 5.8.12 or later to patch the XSS vulnerability in Select2 dropdown string handling.
Fix this in Advanced Custom Fields
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation1.0 h
- Implementation1.0 h
- Testing1.0 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 $1,200.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2020-36172 — 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-2020-36172 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