WordPress wordpress core

WordPress Core < 6.0.3 — Reflected Cross-Site Scripting via SQL Injection

CVE-2022-43497Published Oct 18, 2022 · Updated Nov 13, 2026

Affected: ≤6.0.2Update to 3.7.40 or 3.8.40 or 3.9.38 or 4.0.37 or 4.1.37 or 4.2.34 or 4.3.30 or 4.4.29 or 4.5.28 or 4.6.25 or 4.7.25 or 4.8.21 or 4.9.22 or 5.0.18 or 5.1.15 or 5.2.17 or 5.3.14 or 5.4.12 or 5.5.11 or 5.6.10 or 5.7.8 or 5.8.6 or 5.9.5 or 6.0.3 or newer

Fixed versions are per release branch: update to the fix for the branch you run.

All remediation steps

Watch core

High8.8CVSS 3.18.8CISA KEVNot listedAccessLow-privilege account (e.g. subscriber)

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Overview

Advisory ID: CVE-2022-43497
Product: WordPress wordpress
Affected: ≤6.0.2
Fixed in: 3.7.40, 3.8.40, 3.9.38, 4.0.37, 4.1.37, 4.2.34, 4.3.30, 4.4.29, 4.5.28, 4.6.25, 4.7.25, 4.8.21, 4.9.22, 5.0.18, 5.1.15, 5.2.17, 5.3.14, 5.4.12, 5.5.11, 5.6.10, 5.7.8, 5.8.6, 5.9.5, 6.0.3
Weakness: CWE-79 Cross-Site Scripting
Required access: Low-privilege account (e.g. subscriber)
Published: Oct 18, 2022 · updated Nov 13, 2026
Credit: Ben Bidner, Marc-Alexandre Montpas
Source: Wordfence Intelligence

Affected≤ 6.0.2
Patched in3.7.40 / 3.8.40 / 3.9.38 / 4.0.37 / 4.1.37 / 4.2.34 / 4.3.30 / 4.4.29 / 4.5.28 / 4.6.25 / 4.7.25 / 4.8.21 / 4.9.22 / 5.0.18 / 5.1.15 / 5.2.17 / 5.3.14 / 5.4.12 / 5.5.11 / 5.6.10 / 5.7.8 / 5.8.6 / 5.9.5 / 6.0.3

8.8

CVSS 3.1 · CNA (Wordfence)

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

What does this vector mean?

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

WordPress Core is vulnerable to SQL Injection in the Media Library that can be leveraged to exploit a Reflected Cross-Site Scripting issue in versions up to 6.0.3. This is due to insufficient escaping on user supplied values passed to a SQL query.

This makes it possible for an attacker to achieved JavaScript code execution in a victims browser, granted they can trick the victim into performing an action such as clicking on a link.

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

Remediation & mitigations

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 3.7.40, 3.8.40, 3.9.38, 4.0.37, 4.1.37, 4.2.34, 4.3.30, 4.4.29, 4.5.28, 4.6.25, 4.7.25, 4.8.21, 4.9.22, 5.0.18, 5.1.15, 5.2.17, 5.3.14, 5.4.12, 5.5.11, 5.6.10, 5.7.8, 5.8.6, 5.9.5, 6.0.3
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

Oct 18, 2022
CVE published
Severity high, CVSS 8.8
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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