CVE-2019-20042

Description

In wp-includes/formatting.php in WordPress 3.7 to 5.3.0, the function wp_targeted_link_rel() can be used in a particular way to result in a stored cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability. This has been patched in WordPress 5.3.1, along with all the previous WordPress versions from 3.7 to 5.3 via a minor release.

Category

6.1
CVSS
Severity: Medium
CVSS 3.1 •
CVSS 2.0 •
EPSS 6.25% Top 10%
Vendor Advisory debian.org Vendor Advisory debian.org Vendor Advisory wordpress.org
Affected: n/a n/a
Published at:
Updated at:

References

Link Tags
https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9975 third party advisory release notes
https://wordpress.org/news/2019/12/wordpress-5-3-1-security-and-maintenance-release/ release notes vendor advisory
https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/46894/trunk patch
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/1f7f3f1f59567e2504f0fbebd51ccf004b3ccb1d patch
https://blog.ripstech.com/filter/vulnerabilities/ not applicable
https://seclists.org/bugtraq/2020/Jan/8 third party advisory mailing list
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4599 third party advisory vendor advisory
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-xvg2-m2f4-83m7 third party advisory
https://hackerone.com/reports/509930 third party advisory
https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4677 third party advisory vendor advisory

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the severity of CVE-2019-20042?
CVE-2019-20042 has been scored as a medium severity vulnerability.
How to fix CVE-2019-20042?
To fix CVE-2019-20042, make sure you are using an up-to-date version of the affected component(s) by checking the vendor release notes. As for now, there are no other specific guidelines available.
Is CVE-2019-20042 being actively exploited in the wild?
It is possible that CVE-2019-20042 is being exploited or will be exploited in a near future based on public information. According to its EPSS score, there is a ~6% probability that this vulnerability will be exploited by malicious actors in the next 30 days.
This platform uses data from the NIST NVD, MITRE CVE, MITRE CWE, First.org and CISA KEV but is not endorsed or certified by these entities. CVE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CVE content is MITRE's CVE web site. CWE is a registred trademark of the MITRE Corporation and the authoritative source of CWE content is MITRE's CWE web site.
© 2025 Under My Watch. All Rights Reserved.