CVE-2018-20151
In WordPress before 4.9.9 and 5.x before 5.0.1, the user-activation page could be read by a search engine's web crawler if an unusual configuration were chosen.
Does this matter?
High impact if exploited, but EPSS currently rates exploitation as unlikely (5.78%). Schedule it in the normal patch cycle and watch for a rise in EPSS or a public exploit.
Description
In WordPress before 4.9.9 and 5.x before 5.0.1, the user-activation page could be read by a search engine's web crawler if an unusual configuration were chosen. The search engine could then index and display a user's e-mail address and (rarely) the password that was generated by default.
- CVSS 3.0
- 7.5 HIGHCVSS:3.0/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- EPSS
- 5.78% probability · 93th percentile
- Public exploits
- None in Exploit-DB
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-200
- Affected
- wordpress/wordpress · debian/debian linux
- Source
- cve@mitre.org
EPSS 5.8% since 27 October 2026; no change recorded yet. The dashed line is the ten per cent mark our analysts treat as “patch before the next change window”. Points are recorded when the score first appears and whenever it moves by a percentage point or more.
References
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106220Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://codex.wordpress.org/Version_4.9.9Product, Vendor Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/02/msg00019.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://wordpress.org/news/2018/12/wordpress-5-0-1-security-release/Release Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-0-1/Release Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9174Vendor Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4401Third Party Advisory
- https://www.zdnet.com/article/wordpress-plugs-bug-that-led-to-google-indexing-some-user-passwords/Press/Media Coverage, Third Party Advisory
- http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/106220Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://codex.wordpress.org/Version_4.9.9Product, Vendor Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2019/02/msg00019.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://wordpress.org/news/2018/12/wordpress-5-0-1-security-release/Release Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://wordpress.org/support/wordpress-version/version-5-0-1/Release Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9174Vendor Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2019/dsa-4401Third Party Advisory
- https://www.zdnet.com/article/wordpress-plugs-bug-that-led-to-google-indexing-some-user-passwords/Press/Media Coverage, Third Party Advisory
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.