Delayed security updates via page-load-triggered WP-Cron
Published Jan 5, 2023 · Updated Apr 7, 2025
Scheduling weakness in WP-Cron in WordPress through 6.1.1 allows security updates to remain delayed on low-traffic sites. The scheduler checks and runs due tasks only on page loads, so wp-cron.php does not execute when the site receives no visits. The condition affects installations without an external scheduler trigger and can extend exposure to vulnerabilities addressed by pending updates.
Summary
What happened
Scheduling weakness in WP-Cron in WordPress through 6.1.1 allows security updates to remain delayed on low-traffic sites. The scheduler checks and runs due tasks only on page loads, so wp-cron.php does not execute when the site receives no visits. The condition affects installations without an external scheduler trigger and can extend exposure to vulnerabilities addressed by pending updates.
The record
- CVE
- CVE-2023-22622
- Published
- Jan 5, 2023
- Updated
- Apr 7, 2025
- Vendor
- Unknown vendor
- Product
- Unknown product
- Classifications
- Unavailable
- Attack vector
- adjacent
- Privileges
- unauthenticated
Timeline
How it unfolded
- Jan 5, 2023CVE publishedPublication date reported by the CVE source.
- Apr 7, 2025Record updatedLatest update available in the CVE record.
Exploitability
Present is not the same as exploitable
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Is a vulnerable build present?
What conditions does exploitation require?
What is affected?
Affected products and versions are unavailable in this record.
Published CVSS scores
CVSS describes severity. EPSS estimates exploitation probability.
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
No sourced classifications are available.
Public exploit references
No public exploit references are available in this record.
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Technologies
Your stack
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Your stack
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