WordPress wordpress core

WordPress Core < 5.8 — Dependency Confusion

CVE-2021-44223Published Nov 25, 2021 · Updated Nov 13, 2026

Affected: ≤5.7.5Update to 5.8 or newer

All remediation steps

Watch core

High8.1CVSS 3.18.1CISA KEVNot listedAccessNo account needed

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Overview

Advisory ID: CVE-2021-44223
Product: WordPress wordpress
Affected: ≤5.7.5
Fixed in: 5.8
Weakness: CWE-345 Insufficient Verification of Data Authenticity
Required access: No account needed
Published: Nov 25, 2021 · updated Nov 13, 2026
Credit: Kamil Vavra
Source: Wordfence Intelligence

Affected≤ 5.7.5
Patched in5.8

8.1

CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)

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

What does this vector mean?

AV:N Attack vector: Network
AC:H Attack complexity: High
PR:N Privileges required: None
UI:N User interaction: None
S:U Scope: Unchanged
C:H Confidentiality: High
I:H Integrity: High
A:H Availability: High

WordPress before 5.8 lacks support for the Update URI plugin header. This makes it easier for remote attackers to execute arbitrary code via a supply-chain attack against WordPress installations that use any plugin for which the slug satisfies the naming constraints of the WordPress.org Plugin Directory but is not yet present in that directory.

Not sure which version you run? Run a passive check — it reads public files only.

Remediation & mitigations

Update to version 5.8, or a newer patched version
Rotate administrator passwords and application secrets if the site ran a vulnerable version while publicly reachable.

References & provenance

Proof-of-concept & detection

No public proof-of-concept or detection template is known for this vulnerability.

Advisories & patches

Advisorywordfence.com

Timeline

Nov 25, 2021
CVE published
Severity high, CVSS 8.1
Nov 13, 2026
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.

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