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WordPressCMS

CVE-2024-31211

CRITICAL · 9.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2024-04-04
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to 6.4.2 or later.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges Zero-click

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
WordPress is an open publishing platform for the Web. Unserialization of instances of the `WP_HTML_Token` class allows for code execution via its `__destruct()` magic method. This issue was fixed in WordPress 6.4.2 on December 6th, 2023. Versions prior to 6.4.0 are not affected.

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

A PHP object injection vulnerability in WordPress core allows unserialization of WP_HTML_Token class instances to achieve arbitrary code execution through the __destruct() magic method. This is a critical deserialization flaw affecting WordPress 6.4.0 and 6.4.1.

MitigationUpgrade WordPress to version 6.4.2 or later. This is a core vulnerability requiring WordPress core update rather than plugin/theme remediation.

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
Affected:>= 6.4.0, < 6.4.2

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
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

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. Check WordPress core version via WP-CLI
    Run command: wp core version
    Affected if The output shows version 6.4.0 or 6.4.1
  2. Check WordPress core version via PHP file
    Inspect the $wp_version variable in /wp-includes/version.php
    Affected if The $wp_version value equals 6.4.0 or 6.4.1
  3. Check WordPress version via admin dashboard
    Navigate to Dashboard > Updates or /wp-admin/about.php
    Affected if The displayed WordPress version shows 6.4.0 or 6.4.1

Your environment is affected if WordPress core is version 6.4.0 or 6.4.1.

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 6.4.2 or later
Fixed in 6.4.2
Interim mitigation

Upgrade WordPress to version 6.4.2 or later. This is a core vulnerability requiring WordPress core update rather than plugin/theme remediation.

Recommended fix High confidence

WordPress 6.4.2 or later

  1. Backup the WordPress database and all site files
  2. Log in to WordPress admin dashboard
  3. Navigate to Dashboard > Updates (or use the WordPress automatic updater)
  4. Click 'Update Now' to upgrade to WordPress 6.4.2 or later
  5. Alternatively, download WordPress 6.4.2 from wordpress.org, extract the files, and replace the existing wp-admin and wp-includes directories while preserving wp-config.php and wp-content
  6. After upgrade, verify the WordPress version shows 6.4.2 or higher

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

Fix this in WordPress Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation4.0 h
  • Testing8.0 h
  • Review / QA4.0 h
18.0 hours of engineering $3,040
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,864.

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-2024-31211 in production — separate from our analysis above.

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.

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