CVE-2019-16781 json
Stored cross-site scripting (XSS) in WordPress block editor
published 2019-12-20 6 y ago modified 2026-06-17 4 mo ago also EUVD-2019-7299 , GHSA-pg4x-64rh-3c9v
- cvss
- 5.8
- version 3.1, CNA
- cisa kev
- Not listed
- not in CISA's catalog
- epss
- 1.6%
- EPSS 1.6% chance of exploitation in 30 days, percentile 76%
- public exploits
- 0
- none known
Summary
In WordPress before 5.3.1, authenticated users with lower privileges (like contributors) can inject JavaScript code in the block editor, which is executed within the dashboard. It can lead to an admin opening the affected post in the editor leading to XSS.
Patch / fix
- WordPress WordPress 5.3.1
- wordpress Debian 14, Debian 13, Debian 12 5.3.2+dfsg1-1
debian advisories DEBIAN-CVE-2019-16781
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-2019-16781 updated cvss 5.8
wordpress: XSS in WordPress block editor (within dashboard)
-
Red Hat All currently supported Red Hat productsnot 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
1.61% chance of exploitation in the next 30 days, higher than 76% of all scored CVEs (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-08).
CVSS scores
| assigned by | version | score | vector |
|---|---|---|---|
| CNA | 3.1 | 5.8 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:N |
| NVD | 3.1 | 5.4 | CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N |
| NVD | 2.0 | 3.5 | AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N |
Affected products
- WordPress WordPress
Classification
- Weakness
-
- CWE-79 Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation
- Technology feeds
References
-
debian.org
/security/2020/dsa-4599
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
-
debian.org
/security/2020/dsa-4677
vendor-advisory, third-party-advisory
-
wpvulndb.com
/vulnerabilities/9976
third-party-advisory
-
wordpress.org
/news/2019/12/wordpress-5-3-1-security-and-maintenance-release/
release-notes, third-party-advisory
-
github.com
/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-pg4x-64rh-3c9v
third-party-advisory, advisory
-
hackerone.com
/reports/731301
permissions-required, third-party-advisory
-
seclists.org
/bugtraq/2020/Jan/8
mailing-list, third-party-advisory
Sources
- CVE List CVE-2019-16781
- NVD CVE-2019-16781
- Maintainer advisory GHSA-pg4x-64rh-3c9v
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.
The maintainers of WordPress/wordpress-develop published their own advisory on GitHub. Reviewed sources take precedence over it.