WordPress before 5.5.2 allows XSS associated with global variables.

published 2020-10-31 6 y ago modified 2026-09-08 2 mo ago also BIT-wordpress-2020-28034 , BIT-wordpress-multisite-2020-28034 , EUVD-2020-20525

cvss: 6.1; version 3.1, NVD
cisa kev: Not listed; not in CISA's catalog
epss: 1.7%; EPSS 1.7% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 77%
public exploits: 0; none known

Patch / fix

fixed in 3 distros 2

bitnami wordpress 5.5.2
bitnami wordpress-multisite 5.5.2
wordpress wordpress 5.5.2

debian arch linux

wordpress Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 5.5.3+dfsg1-1

debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2020-28034

wordpress Arch Linux 5.5.3-1

arch linux advisories AVG-1257

Vendor advisories

What the vendors themselves say about their products: affected, fixed or not affected, and what to do.

red hat product security vex CVE-2020-28034 updated 2025-11-21 cvss 6.1

wordpress: XSS via global variables

Red Hat All currently supported Red Hat products
not affected: vulnerable code not present

Red Hat CSAF VEX © Red Hat, Inc., from https://security.access.redhat.com/data/csaf/v2/vex/; changed: reduced to product statuses and remediations. CC BY 4.0 · csaf

Exploit prediction

1.72% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 77% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).

CVSS scores

assigned by	version	score	vector
NVD	3.1	6.1	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
NVD	2.0	4.3	AV:N/AC:M/Au:N/C:N/I:P/A:N
OSV	3.1	6.1	CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N

Affected packages

ecosystem	package	affected	fixed in
bitnami	wordpress	<5.5.2	5.5.2
bitnami	wordpress-multisite	<5.5.2	5.5.2

Classification

Weakness

CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation

Technology feeds

WordPress rss critical rss

References

debian.org /security/2020/dsa-4784
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory, advisory
lists.fedoraproject.org /archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VAVVYJKA2I6CRQUINECDPBGWMQDEG244/
vendor-advisory, web
lists.fedoraproject.org /archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VUXVUAKL2HL4QYJEPHBNVQQWRMFMII2Y/
vendor-advisory, web
lists.fedoraproject.org /archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CHHVNK2WYAM3ZTCXTFSEIT56IKLVJHU3/
vendor-advisory, web
wordpress.org /news/2020/10/wordpress-5-5-2-security-and-maintenance-release/
release-notes, vendor-advisory, advisory
lists.debian.org /debian-lts-announce/2020/11/msg00004.html
mailing-list, third-party-advisory, advisory
nvd.nist.gov /vuln/detail/CVE-2020-28034
web

Sources

Fencer Vulns keeps one entry per vulnerability: the CVE id wins, then GHSA, and records that alias each other are merged, except that two CVEs always keep separate entries. The same data is available as JSON.

Summary