WordPress 5.4.2 is now available!

This security and maintenance release features 23 fixes and enhancements. Plus, it adds a number of security fixes—see the list below.

These bugs affect WordPress versions 5.4.1 and earlier; version 5.4.2 fixes them, so you’ll want to upgrade.

If you haven’t yet updated to 5.4, there are also updated versions of 5.3 and earlier that fix the bugs for you.

Security Updates

WordPress versions 5.4 and earlier are affected by the following bugs, which are fixed in version 5.4.2. If you haven’t yet updated to 5.4, there are also updated versions of 5.3 and earlier that fix the security issues.

Props to Sam Thomas (jazzy2fives) for finding an XSS issue where authenticated users with low privileges are able to add JavaScript to posts in the block editor.Props to Luigi – (gubello.me) for discovering an XSS issue where authenticated users with upload permissions are able to add JavaScript to media files.Props to Ben Bidner of the WordPress Security Team for finding an open redirect issue in wp_validate_redirect().Props to Nrimo Ing Pandum for finding an authenticated XSS issue via theme uploads.Props to Simon Scannell of RIPS Technologies for finding an issue where set-screen-option can be misused by plugins leading to privilege escalation.Props to Carolina Nymark for discovering an issue where comments from password-protected posts and pages could be displayed under certain conditions.

Thank you to all of the reporters for privately disclosing the vulnerabilities. This gave the security team time to fix the vulnerabilities before WordPress sites could be attacked.

One maintenance update was also deployed to versions 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3. See the related developer note for more information.

You can browse the full list of changes on Trac.

For more info, browse the full list of changes on Trac or check out the Version 5.4.2 documentation page.

WordPress 5.4.2 is a short-cycle maintenance release. The next major release will be version 5.5.

You can download WordPress 5.4.2 from the button at the top of this page, or visit your Dashboard → Updates and click Update Now.

If you have sites that support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.

Thanks and props!

In addition to the security researchers mentioned above, thank you to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.4.2 happen:

Andrea Fercia, argentite, M Asif Rahman, Jb Audras, Ayesh Karunaratne, bdcstr, Delowar Hossain, Rob Migchels, donmhico, Ehtisham Siddiqui, Emilie LEBRUN, finomeno, garethgillman, Giorgio25b, Gabriel Maldonado, Hector F, Ian Belanger, Aaron Jorbin, Mathieu Viet, Javier Casares, Joe McGill, jonkolbert, Jono Alderson, Joy, Tammie Lister, Kjell Reigstad, KT, markusthiel, Mayank Majeji, Mel Choyce-Dwan, mislavjuric, Mukesh Panchal, Nikhil Bhansi, oakesjosh, Dominik Schilling, Arslan Ahmed, Peter Wilson, Carolina Nymark, Stephen Bernhardt, Sam Fullalove, Alain Schlesser, Sergey Biryukov, skarabeq, Daniel Richards, Toni Viemerö, suzylah, Timothy Jacobs, TeBenachi, Jake Spurlock and yuhin.

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WordPress 5.4.1 is now available!

This security and maintenance release features 17 bug fixes in addition to 7 security fixes. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 3.7 have also been updated.

WordPress 5.4.1 is a short-cycle security and maintenance release. The next major release will be version 5.5.

You can download WordPress 5.4.1 by downloading from WordPress.org, or visit your Dashboard → Updates and click Update Now.

If you have sites that support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.

Security Updates

Seven security issues affect WordPress versions 5.4 and earlier. If you haven’t yet updated to 5.4, all WordPress versions since 3.7 have also been updated to fix the following security issues:

Props to Muaz Bin Abdus Sattar and Jannes who both independently reported an issue where password reset tokens were not properly invalidated.Props to ka1n4t for finding an issue where certain private posts can be viewed unauthenticated.Props to Evan Ricafort for discovering an XSS issue in the CustomizerProps to Ben Bidner from the WordPress Security Team who discovered an XSS issue in the search block.Props to Nick Daugherty from WordPress VIP / WordPress Security Team who discovered an XSS issue in wp-object-cache.Props to Ronnie Goodrich (Kahoots) and Jason Medeiros who independently reported an XSS issue in file uploads.Props to Weston Ruter for fixing a stored XSS vulnerability in the WordPress customizer.Additionally, an authenticated XSS issue in the block editor was discovered by Nguyen The Duc (ducnt) in WordPress 5.4 RC1 and RC2. It was fixed in 5.4 RC5. We wanted to be sure to give credit and thank them for all of their work in making WordPress more secure.

Thank you to all of the reporters for privately disclosing the vulnerabilities. This gave the security team time to fix the vulnerabilities before WordPress sites could be attacked.

For more information, browse the full list of changes on Trac, or check out the version 5.4.1 HelpHub documentation page.

In addition to the security researchers mentioned above, thank you to everyone who helped make WordPress 5.4.1 happen:

Alex Concha, Andrea Fercia, Andrew Duthie, Andrew Ozz, Andy Fragen, Andy Peatling, arnaudbroes, Chris Van Patten, Daniel Richards, DhrRob, Dono12, dudo, Ehtisham Siddiqui, Ella van Durpe, Garrett Hyder, Ian Belanger, Ipstenu (Mika Epstein), Jake Spurlock, Jb Audras, John Blackbourn, John James Jacoby, Jonathan Desrosiers, Jorge Costa, K. Adam White, Kelly Choyce-Dwan, MarkRH, mattyrob, Miguel Fonseca, Mohammad Jangda, Mukesh Panchal, Nick Daugherty, noahtallen, Paul Biron, Peter Westwood, Peter Wilson, pikamander2, r-a-y, Riad Benguella, Robert Anderson, Samuel Wood (Otto), Sergey Biryukov, Søren Brønsted, Stanimir Stoyanov, tellthemachines, Timothy Jacobs, Toro_Unit (Hiroshi Urabe), treecutter, and yohannp.

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Post Content

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WordPress 5.3.1 is now available!

This security and maintenance release features 46 fixes and enhancements. Plus, it adds a number of security fixes—see the list below.

WordPress 5.3.1 is a short-cycle maintenance release. The next major release will be version 5.4.

You can download WordPress 5.3.1 by clicking the button at the top of this page, or visit your Dashboard → Updates and click Update Now.

If you have sites that support automatic background updates, they’ve already started the update process.

Security updates

Four security issues affect WordPress versions 5.3 and earlier; version 5.3.1 fixes them, so you’ll want to upgrade. If you haven’t yet updated to 5.3, there are also updated versions of 5.2 and earlier that fix the security issues.

Props to Daniel Bachhuber for finding an issue where an unprivileged user could make a post sticky via the REST API.Props to Simon Scannell of RIPS Technologies for finding and disclosing an issue where cross-site scripting (XSS) could be stored in well-crafted links.Props to the WordPress.org Security Team for hardening wp_kses_bad_protocol() to ensure that it is aware of the named colon attribute.Props to Nguyen The Duc for discovering a stored XSS vulnerability using block editor content.

Maintenance updates

Here are a few of the highlights:

Administration: improvements to admin form controls height and alignment standardization (see related dev note), dashboard widget links accessibility and alternate color scheme readability issues (see related dev note).Block editor: fix Edge scrolling issues and intermittent JavaScript issues.Bundled themes: add customizer option to show/hide author bio, replace JS based smooth scroll with CSS (see related dev note) and fix Instagram embed CSS.Date/time: improve non-GMT dates calculation, fix date format output in specific languages and make get_permalink() more resilient against PHP timezone changes.Embeds: remove CollegeHumor oEmbed provider as the service doesn’t exist anymore.External libraries: update sodium_compat.Site health: allow the remind interval for the admin email verification to be filtered.Uploads: avoid thumbnails overwriting other uploads when filename matches, and exclude PNG images from scaling after upload.Users: ensure administration email verification uses the user’s locale instead of the site locale.

For more information, browse the full list of changes on Trac or check out the version 5.3.1 HelpHub documentation page.

Thanks!

In addition to the security researchers mentioned above, thank you to everyone who contributed to WordPress 5.3.1:

123host, acosmin, Adam Silverstein, Albert Juhé Lluveras, Alex Concha, Alex Mills, Anantajit JG, Anders Norén, andraganescu, Andrea Fercia, Andrew Duthie, Andrew Ozz, Andrey “Rarst” Savchenko, aravindajith, archon810, Ate Up With Motor, Ayesh Karunaratne, Birgir Erlendsson (birgire), Boga86, Boone Gorges, Carolina Nymark, Chetan Prajapati, Csaba (LittleBigThings), Dademaru, Daniel Bachhuber, Daniele Scasciafratte, Daniel Richards, David Baumwald, David Herrera, Dion hulse, ehtis, Ella van Durpe, epiqueras, Fabian, Felix Arntz, flaviozavan, Garrett Hyder, Glenn, Grzegorz (Greg) Ziółkowski, Grzegorz.Janoszka, Hareesh Pillai, Ian Belanger, ispreview, Jake Spurlock, James Huff, James Koster, Jarret, Jasper van der Meer, Jb Audras, jeichorn, Jer Clarke, Jeremy Felt, Jip Moors, Joe Hoyle, John James Jacoby, Jonathan Desrosiers, Jonny Harris, Joost de Valk, Jorge Costa, Joy, Juliette Reinders Folmer, justdaiv, Kelly Dwan, Kharis Sulistiyono, Kite, kyliesabra, lisota, lukaswaudentio, Maciej Mackowiak, marcelo2605, Marius L. J., Mat Lipe, mayanksonawat, Mel Choyce-Dwan, Michael Arestad, miette49, Miguel Fonseca, mihdan, Mike Auteri, Mikko Saari, Milan Petrovic, Mukesh Panchal, NextScripts, Nick Daugherty, Niels Lange, noyle, Ov3rfly, Paragon Initiative Enterprises, Paul Biron, Peter Wilson, Rachel Peter, Riad Benguella, Ricard Torres, Roland Murg, Ryan McCue, Ryan Welcher, SamuelFernandez, sathyapulse, Scott Taylor, scvleon, Sergey Biryukov, sergiomdgomes, SGr33n, simonjanin, smerriman, steevithak, Stephen Bernhardt, Stephen Edgar, Steve Dufresne, Subrata Mal, Sultan Nasir Uddin, Sybre Waaijer, Tammie Lister, Tanvirul Haque, Tellyworth, timon33, Timothy Jacobs, Timothée Brosille, tmatsuur, Tung Du, Veminom, vortfu, waleedt93, williampatton, wpgurudev, and Zack Tollman.

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Late-breaking news on the 5.2.4 short-cycle security release that landed October 14. When we released the news post, I inadvertently missed giving props to Simon Scannell of RIPS Technologies for finding and disclosing an issue where path traversal can lead to remote code execution.

Simon has done a great deal of work on the WordPress project, and failing to mention his contributions is a huge oversight on our end.

Thank you to all of the reporters for privately disclosing vulnerabilities, which gave us time to fix them before WordPress sites could be attacked.

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WordPress 5.2.4 is now available! This security release fixes 6 security issues.

WordPress versions 5.2.3 and earlier are affected by these bugs, which are fixed in version 5.2.4. Updated versions of WordPress 5.1 and earlier are also available for any users who have not yet updated to 5.2.

Security Updates

Props to Evan Ricafort for finding an issue where stored XSS (cross-site scripting) could be added via the Customizer.Props to J.D. Grimes who found and disclosed a method of viewing unauthenticated posts.Props to Weston Ruter for finding a way to create a stored XSS to inject Javascript into style tags.Props to David Newman for highlighting a method to poison the cache of JSON GET requests via the Vary: Origin header.Props to Eugene Kolodenker who found a server-side request forgery in the way that URLs are validated.Props to Ben Bidner of the WordPress Security Team who discovered issues related to referrer validation in the admin.

Thank you to all of the reporters for privately disclosing the vulnerabilities, which gave us time to fix them before WordPress sites could be attacked.

For more info, browse the full list of changes on Trac or check out the Version 5.2.4 documentation page.

WordPress 5.2.4 is a short-cycle security release. The next major release will be version 5.3.

You can download WordPress 5.2.4 or visit Dashboard → Updates and click Update Now. Sites that support automatic background updates have already started to update automatically.

In addition to the security researchers mentioned above, thank you to everyone who contributed to WordPress 5.2.4:

Aaron D. Campbell, darthhexx, David Binovec, Jonathan Desrosiers, Ian Dunn, Jeff Paul, Nick Daugherty, Konstantin Obenland, Peter Wilson, Sergey Biryukov, Stanimir Stoyanov, Garth Mortensen, vortfu, Weston Ruter, Jake Spurlock, and Alex Concha.

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