Headline
CVE-2023-2745: WordPress 6.2.1 Maintenance & Security Release
WordPress Core is vulnerable to Directory Traversal in versions up to, and including, 6.2, via the ‘wp_lang’ parameter. This allows unauthenticated attackers to access and load arbitrary translation files. In cases where an attacker is able to upload a crafted translation file onto the site, such as via an upload form, this could be also used to perform a Cross-Site Scripting attack.
WordPress 6.2.1 is now available!
This minor release features 20 bug fixes in Core and 10 bug fixes for the block editor. You can review a summary of the maintenance updates in this release by reading the Release Candidate announcement.
This release also features several security fixes. Because this is a security release, it is recommended that you update your sites immediately. All versions since WordPress 4.1 have also been updated.
WordPress 6.2.1 is a short-cycle release. The next major release will be version 6.3 planned for August 2023.
If you have sites that support automatic background updates, the update process will begin automatically.
You can download WordPress 6.2.1 from WordPress.org, or visit your WordPress Dashboard, click “Updates”, and then click “Update Now”.
For more information on this release, please visit the HelpHub site.
Security updates included in this release
The security team would like to thank the following people for responsibly reporting vulnerabilities, and allowing them to be fixed in this release.
- Block themes parsing shortcodes in user generated data; thanks to Liam Gladdy of WP Engine for reporting this issue
- A CSRF issue updating attachment thumbnails; reported by John Blackbourn of the WordPress security team
- A flaw allowing XSS via open embed auto discovery; reported independently by Jakub Żoczek of Securitum and during a third party security audit
- Bypassing of KSES sanitization in block attributes for low privileged users; discovered during a third party security audit.
- A path traversal issue via translation files; reported independently by Ramuel Gall and during a third party security audit.
Thank you to these WordPress contributors
This release was led by Jb Audras, George Mamadashvili, Sergey Biryukov and Peter Wilson.
WordPress 6.2.1 would not have been possible without the contributions of the following people. Their asynchronous coordination to deliver maintenance and security fixes into a stable release is a testament to the power and capability of the WordPress community.
Adam Silverstein, Aki Hamano, amin, Andrew Ozz, Andrew Serong, André, Ari Stathopoulos, Birgit Pauli-Haack, Chirag Rathod, Colin Stewart, Daniel Richards, David Baumwald, David Biňovec, Dennis Snell, devshagor, Dhrumil Kumbhani, Dominik Schilling, Ella, George Mamadashvili, Isabel Brison, Jb Audras, Joe Dolson, Joen A., John Blackbourn, Jonathan Desrosiers, JuanMa Garrido, Juliette Reinders Folmer, Kai Hao, Kailey (trepmal), Marc, Marine EVAIN, Matt Wiebe, Mukesh Panchal, nendeb, Nick Diego, nickpap, Nik Tsekouras, Pavan Patil, Peter Wilson, pouicpouic, Riad Benguella, Ryan Welcher, Scott Reilly, Sergey Biryukov, Stephen Bernhardt, tmatsuur, TobiasBg, Tonya Mork, Ugyen Dorji, Weston Ruter, and zieladam.
How to contribute
To get involved in WordPress core development, head over to Trac, pick a ticket, and join the conversation in the #core and #6-3-release-leads channels. Need help? Check out the Core Contributor Handbook.
Thanks to @sergeybiryukov for proofreading.
Related news
Debian Linux Security Advisory 5685-1 - Several security vulnerabilities have been discovered in Wordpress, a popular content management framework, which may lead to exposure of sensitive information to an unauthorized actor in WordPress or allowing unauthenticated attackers to discern the email addresses of users who have published public posts on an affected website via an Oracle style attack.
WordPress Core versions 6.2 and below suffer from cross site request forgery, persistent cross site scripting, shortcode execution, insufficient sanitization, and directory traversal vulnerabilities.