WordPress Core < 5.4.2 — Arbitrary User Meta Update
CVE-2020-4050Published · Updated Action summary
Affected: ≤5.3.3Update to 3.7.34 or 3.8.34 or 3.9.32 or 4.0.31 or 4.1.31 or 4.2.28 or 4.3.24 or 4.4.23 or 4.5.22 or 4.6.19 or 4.7.18 or 4.8.14 or 4.9.15 or 5.0.10 or 5.1.6 or 5.2.7 or 5.3.4 or 5.4.2 or newer
Fixed versions are per release branch: update to the fix for the branch you run.
All remediation steps- Severity
- Low3.5
- CVSS
- 3.5CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:N/I:L/A:NWhat does this vector mean?
AV:NAttack vector- Network
AC:HAttack complexity- High
PR:LPrivileges required- Low
UI:NUser interaction- None
S:CScope- Changed
C:NConfidentiality- None
I:LIntegrity- Low
A:NAvailability- None
- Required access
- Unknown
- Exploit prediction (EPSS)
- No score
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
On this page7
Am I affected?
WordPress wordpress
- Affected≤ 5.3.3
- Patched in3.7.34 / 3.8.34 / 3.9.32 / 4.0.31 / 4.1.31 / 4.2.28 / 4.3.24 / 4.4.23 / 4.5.22 / 4.6.19 / 4.7.18 / 4.8.14 / 4.9.15 / 5.0.10 / 5.1.6 / 5.2.7 / 5.3.4 / 5.4.2
Update to 3.7.34 / 3.8.34 / 3.9.32 / 4.0.31 / 4.1.31 / 4.2.28 / 4.3.24 / 4.4.23 / 4.5.22 / 4.6.19 / 4.7.18 / 4.8.14 / 4.9.15 / 5.0.10 / 5.1.6 / 5.2.7 / 5.3.4 / 5.4.2 or newer.
You are affected if you run ≤ 5.3.3. Version 3.7.34, 3.8.34, 3.9.32, 4.0.31, 4.1.31, 4.2.28, 4.3.24, 4.4.23, 4.5.22, 4.6.19, 4.7.18, 4.8.14, 4.9.15, 5.0.10, 5.1.6, 5.2.7, 5.3.4, 5.4.2 and later are not affected by this issue.
- Check your version: in wp-admin go to Plugins → Installed Plugins and read the version under WordPress.
- No admin access? Run a passive check of your site. It reads public files only.
What to do
- Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 3.7.34, 3.8.34, 3.9.32, 4.0.31, 4.1.31, 4.2.28, 4.3.24, 4.4.23, 4.5.22, 4.6.19, 4.7.18, 4.8.14, 4.9.15, 5.0.10, 5.1.6, 5.2.7, 5.3.4, 5.4.2
- Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.
- Watch WordPress to get an email when the next vulnerability is published.
Advisory
Source description from Wordfence Intelligence, credited to Simon Scannell.
In affected versions of WordPress, misuse of the `set-screen-option` filter's return value allows arbitrary user meta fields to be saved. It does require an admin to install a plugin that would misuse the filter. Once installed, it can be leveraged by low privileged users. This has been patched in version 5.4.2, along with all the previously affected versions via a minor release (5.3.4, 5.2.7, 5.1.6, 5.0.10, 4.9.15, 4.8.14, 4.7.18, 4.6.19, 4.5.22, 4.4.23, 4.3.24, 4.2.28, 4.1.31, 4.0.31, 3.9.32, 3.8.34, 3.7.34).
Exploits & references
Proof-of-concept & detection
No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.
Advisories & patches
- Advisorywordfence.com
Timeline
CVE published
Severity low, CVSS 3.5
Record last updated
Sources & licenses
Wordfence record- Vulnerability data
- Wordfence Intelligence. Copyright 2012-2026 Defiant Inc. Licensed under the CC BY-SA 4.0.
- CVE® identifiers
- Copyright 1999-2026 The MITRE Corporation. Used under the CVE Program. CVE® is a registered trademark of The MITRE Corporation.
- CVSS / CWE
- National Vulnerability Database (NVD), shown unmodified. This product uses the NVD API but is not endorsed or certified by the NVD.
- VulnCrest content
- Summary, remediation guidance and page layout © VulnCrest. Not sourced from NVD.