Stored XSS via unescaped the_meta output
Published Oct 16, 2024 · Updated Apr 8, 2026
Stored XSS in WordPress before 6.0.2 allows remote authenticated users to execute scripts through crafted post custom fields. The the_meta() function writes post-meta keys and values into page markup without output escaping. Contributor-level editor access is sufficient, but execution requires a theme, plugin, or custom template to call the_meta() for the affected post.
Summary
What happened
Stored XSS in WordPress before 6.0.2 allows remote authenticated users to execute scripts through crafted post custom fields. The the_meta() function writes post-meta keys and values into page markup without output escaping. Contributor-level editor access is sufficient, but execution requires a theme, plugin, or custom template to call the_meta() for the affected post.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2022-4973
- Published
- Oct 16, 2024
- Updated
- Apr 8, 2026
- Vendor
- WordPress.org
- Product
- WordPress
- Classifications
- CWE-79, T1059.007
- Attack vector
- network
- Privileges
- authenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Oct 16, 2024CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 8, 2026Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
Compare your product and version with the public record. A matching version still requires validation against your environment.
Is a vulnerable build present?
Compare these published version ranges with your installed build and any vendor patches.
- Affected versionversion=0 <=3.6.1
- Affected versionversion=3.7 <=3.7.38
- Affected versionversion=3.8 <=3.8.38
- Affected versionversion=3.9 <=3.9.36
- Affected versionversion=4.0 <=4.0.35
- Affected versionversion=4.1 <=4.1.35
- Affected versionversion=4.2 <=4.2.32
- Affected versionversion=4.3 <=4.3.28
- Affected versionversion=4.4 <=4.4.27
- Affected versionversion=4.5 <=4.5.26
- Affected versionversion=4.6 <=4.6.23
- Affected versionversion=4.7 <=4.7.23
- Affected versionversion=4.8 <=4.8.19
- Affected versionversion=4.9 <=4.9.20
- Affected versionversion=5.0 <=5.0.16
- Affected versionversion=5.1 <=5.1.13
- Affected versionversion=5.2 <=5.2.15
- Affected versionversion=5.3 <=5.3.12
- Affected versionversion=5.4 <=5.4.10
- Affected versionversion=5.5 <=5.5.9
- Affected versionversion=5.6 <=5.6.8
- Affected versionversion=5.7 <=5.7.6
- Affected versionversion=5.8 <=5.8.4
- Affected versionversion=5.9 <=5.9.3
- Affected versionversion=6.0 <=6.0.1
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Attacks
What attackers are doing with it
Daily unique IPs observed by Shadowserver honeypots for known exploited vulnerabilities (KEVs). Missing observations do not establish an absence of attacks.
Weakness, pattern, technique
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
Labels summarize the accepted research assessment. They do not indicate a test against your environment.
Reported exploitation
- Wordfence blocked-attack telemetryreported exploitation
Technologies
Your stack
See the directory against your own environment.
Your stack
Check the software in your environment
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