UpHeron
All vulnerabilities

WordPress core

CVE-2020-4050

WordPress: 'set-screen-option' filter misuse by plugins leading to privilege escalation

Severity
Low 3.1
Published
12 Jun 2020
Last changed
17 Jun 2026
Added to UpHeron
17 Oct 2026
Fixed in
4.9.15, 5.0.10, 5.1.6, 5.2.7, 5.3.4, 5.4.2
Also known as
GHSA-4vpv-fgg2-gcqc
Sources
NVD, WordPress

Description

In affected versions of WordPress, misuse of the `set-screen-option` filter's return value allows arbitrary user meta fields to be saved. It does require an admin to install a plugin that would misuse the filter. Once installed, it can be leveraged by low privileged users. This has been patched in version 5.4.2, along with all the previously affected versions via a minor release (5.3.4, 5.2.7,…

Affected software

SoftwareAffected versions
WordPressWordPress core · cpe:a:wordpress:wordpress
  • From 5.4 before 5.4.2
  • From 5.3.0 before 5.3.4
  • From 5.2 before 5.2.7
  • From 5.1 before 5.1.6
All 19 release lines
  • From 3.7 before 5.4.2
  • From 3.7 before 3.7.34
  • From 3.8 before 3.8.34
  • From 3.9 before 3.9.32
  • From 4.0 before 4.0.31
  • From 4.1 before 4.1.31
  • From 4.2 before 4.2.28
  • From 4.3 before 4.3.24
  • From 4.4 before 4.4.23
  • From 4.5 before 4.5.22
  • From 4.6 before 4.6.19
  • From 4.7 before 4.7.18
  • From 4.8 before 4.8.14
  • From 4.9 before 4.9.15
  • From 5.0 before 5.0.10
  • From 5.1 before 5.1.6
  • From 5.2 before 5.2.7
  • From 5.3.0 before 5.3.4
  • From 5.4 before 5.4.2

References