CVE-2022-21661
Due to improper sanitization in WP_Query, there can be cases where SQL injection is possible through plugins or themes that use it in a certain way.
Does this matter?
EPSS puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 97.8%, higher than 100% of all known CVEs. Patch or mitigate before the next change window.
Description
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MariaDB database. Due to improper sanitization in WP_Query, there can be cases where SQL injection is possible through plugins or themes that use it in a certain way. This has been patched in WordPress version 5.8.3. Older affected versions are also fixed via security release, that go back till 3.7.37. We strongly recommend that you keep auto-updates enabled. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
- CVSS 3.1
- 7.5 HIGHCVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
- EPSS
- 97.80% probability · 100th percentile
- Public exploits
- 1 in Exploit-DB · first 13 January 2022
- CISA KEV
- Not listed
- Weakness
- CWE-89
- Affected
- wordpress/wordpress · fedoraproject/fedora · debian/debian linux
- Source
- security-advisories@github.com
EPSS 97.8% since 3 November 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.
Public exploits (1)
Entries in Exploit-DB that cite this CVE. Links go to the Exploit-DB page and to the file in the public repository; nothing is hosted here. A verified tick means the Exploit-DB team confirmed the exploit works against the stated version.
References
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165540/WordPress-Core-5.8.2-SQL-Injection.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/17efac8c8ec64555eff5cf51a3eff81e06317214Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-6676-cqfm-gw84Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00019.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CV4UNEC63UU5GEU47IIR4RMTZAHNEOJG/Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DM6XPH3JN6V4NF4WBOJTOXZIVE6VKKE3/Third Party Advisory
- https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-security-release/Release Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5039Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50663Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-22-020/Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165540/WordPress-Core-5.8.2-SQL-Injection.htmlExploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/17efac8c8ec64555eff5cf51a3eff81e06317214Patch, Third Party Advisory
- https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-6676-cqfm-gw84Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00019.htmlMailing List, Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CV4UNEC63UU5GEU47IIR4RMTZAHNEOJG/Third Party Advisory
- https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DM6XPH3JN6V4NF4WBOJTOXZIVE6VKKE3/Third Party Advisory
- https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-security-release/Release Notes, Vendor Advisory
- https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5039Third Party Advisory
- https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50663Exploit, Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
- https://www.vicarius.io/vsociety/posts/understanding-the-wordpress-sql-injection-vulnerability-cve-2022-21661Exploit, Third Party Advisory
- https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-22-020/Third Party Advisory, VDB Entry
Source: NVD record, EPSS from FIRST.org, KEV from CISA, exploits from Exploit-DB. Refreshed daily. Download this record as JSON.