dbcve.org
AntispamWordPress extension · Cleantalk

CVE-2022-28221

MEDIUM · 6.1 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-04-19
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 5.173 or later.
See remediation →
68/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable No privileges

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 · unedited
The CleanTalk AntiSpam plugin <= 5.173 for WordPress is vulnerable to Reflected Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) via the $_REQUEST['page'] parameter in`/lib/Cleantalk/ApbctWP/FindSpam/ListTable/Comments.php`

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 confidence

The CleanTalk AntiSpam plugin <= 5.173 for WordPress contains a reflected XSS vulnerability in the Comments.php list table file. The application fails to properly sanitize the `$_REQUEST['page']` parameter before reflecting it in the HTML output, allowing an attacker to inject malicious JavaScript through a crafted URL that could execute in victim's browser.

MitigationUpdate the CleanTalk AntiSpam plugin to version 5.174 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement input validation and output encoding on the 'page' parameter in the affected file.

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
AntispamWordPress extension
Affected:<= 5.173

CVSS 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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Identify CleanTalk AntiSpam plugin installation
    Locate the cleantalk-antispam plugin directory in wp-content/plugins/ and check the main plugin file header for the version number, or use WordPress admin to view installed plugins and their versions
    Affected if The plugin is installed and the version is 5.173 or lower
  2. Compare installed version to affected range
    Read the version from the plugin's main file (typically index.php or cleantalk.php) and compare it against the vulnerable range: any version <= 5.173 is affected
    Affected if Installed version is 5.173 or any lower version number
  3. Locate the vulnerable Comments.php file
    Navigate to the plugin directory (wp-content/plugins/cleantalk-antispam/lib/Cleantalk/ApbctWP/) and locate Comments.php - this is the file containing the vulnerable code
    Affected if The Comments.php file exists in the expected plugin path and contains unsanitized page parameter reflection
  4. Inspect the page parameter handling
    Open Comments.php and search for code that handles $_REQUEST['page'] or $_GET['page'] and reflects it into HTML output without proper sanitization (such as htmlspecialchars or esc_html)
    Affected if The code reflects the page parameter directly into HTML without encoding, allowing script injection via a crafted URL parameter

You are affected if the CleanTalk AntiSpam plugin is installed with version 5.173 or lower and the Comments.php file handles the page parameter without sanitization.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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.

dbcve · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 5.173
Interim mitigation

Update the CleanTalk AntiSpam plugin to version 5.174 or later. If immediate patching is not possible, implement input validation and output encoding on the 'page' parameter in the affected file.

Recommended fix Moderate confidence

CleanTalk AntiSpam plugin version > 5.173 (latest version from WordPress plugin repository)

  1. Update the CleanTalk AntiSpam plugin to the latest available version from the WordPress plugin repository
  2. After updating, verify the version number reflects the patch (version should be higher than 5.173)
  3. Test that the plugin functionality remains working after the update
  4. Clear any server-side and browser caches to ensure the updated code is served

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Antispam Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation3.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
8.0 hours of engineering $1,420
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $2,272.

Scan for this in your stack

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-28221 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

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.

What belongs here
  • 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