CVE intelligence and bounded remediation

CVE-2019-16780 — Wordpress Wordpress security vulnerability

Medium CVSS 5.8

WordPress users with lower privileges (like contributors) can inject JavaScript code in the block editor using a specific payload, which is executed within the dashboard. This can lead to XSS if an admin opens the post in the editor. Execution of this attack does require an authenticated user. 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. Automatic updates are enabled by default for minor releases and we strongly recommend that you keep them enabled.

Severity
Medium
CVSS
5.8 (3.1)
Published
2019-12-26
CISA KEV
Not currently listed
Ecosystem
php/wordpress
Weaknesses
CWE-79

Affected products

  • wordpress / wordpress
  • wordpress / wordpress / 3.7
  • debian / debian_linux / 9.0
  • debian / debian_linux / 10.0

Matched remediation archetype

Cross-site scripting and unsafe browser output

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Check exposure

  • Trace reflected, stored, and DOM-derived untrusted values into HTML, attributes, URLs, styles, scripts, and client-side template sinks.
  • Identify affected origins, authenticated user roles, sensitive browser capabilities, and where content is shared across tenants.
  • Review framework escaping, rich-text sanitization, legacy templates, and client-side rendering paths.

Remediate safely

  • Use context-aware framework output encoding and safe DOM APIs; keep untrusted data out of executable contexts.
  • Sanitize intentionally supported markup with a maintained allowlist policy and validate URLs and attributes separately.
  • Update affected rendering components and add tests for every output context using inert sentinel markup.

Authoritative sources

Complete CVE record and remediation plan

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