CVE-2021-39202
WordPress 5.8 beta: Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in widget
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. In affected versions the widgets editor introduced in WordPress 5.8 beta 1 has improper handling of HTML input in the Custom HTML feature. This leads to stored XSS in the custom HTML widget. This has been patched in WordPress 5.8. It was only present during the testing/beta phase of WordPress 5.8.
Attack profile
How easy it is to exploit
- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges needed
- Low
- User interaction
- Required
What an attacker can affect
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
Exploit likelihood
What each source reports
CVE List Score used
WordPress 5.8 beta: Stored Cross-Site Scripting (XSS) vulnerability in widget
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. In affected versions the widgets editor introduced in WordPress 5.8 beta 1 has improper handling of HTML input in the Custom HTML feature. This leads to stored XSS in the custom HTML widget. This has been patched in WordPress 5.8. It was only present during the testing/beta phase of WordPress 5.8.
- Record
CVE-2021-39202- CVSS 3.1
- 7.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
EUVDEUVD-2021-25584
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. In affected versions the widgets editor introduced in WordPress 5.8 beta 1 has improper handling of HTML input in the Custom HTML feature. This leads to stored XSS in the custom HTML widget. This has been patched in WordPress 5.8. It was only present during the testing/beta phase of WordPress 5.8.
- Record
EUVD-2021-25584- CVSS 3.1
- 7.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-03
NVD
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. In affected versions the widgets editor introduced in WordPress 5.8 beta 1 has improper handling of HTML input in the Custom HTML feature. This leads to stored XSS in the custom HTML widget. This has been patched in WordPress 5.8. It was only present during the testing/beta phase of WordPress 5.8.
- Record
CVE-2021-39202- CVSS 3.1
- 7.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - CVSS 2.0
- 3.5 Low
AV:N/AC:M/Au:S/C:N/I:P/A:N - Weakness
- CWE-79
- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVUBUNTU-CVE-2021-39202
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. In affected versions the widgets editor introduced in WordPress 5.8 beta 1 has improper handling of HTML input in the Custom HTML feature. This leads to stored XSS in the custom HTML widget. This has been patched in WordPress 5.8. It was only present during the testing/beta phase of WordPress 5.8.
- Record
UBUNTU-CVE-2021-39202- CVSS 3.1
- 7.6 High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N - CVSS 3.1
- 5.4 Medium
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N - Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVBIT-wordpress-2021-39202 No score
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. In affected versions the widgets editor introduced in WordPress 5.8 beta 1 has improper handling of HTML input in the Custom HTML feature. This leads to stored XSS in the custom HTML widget. This has been patched in WordPress 5.8. It was only present during the testing/beta phase of WordPress 5.8.
- Record
BIT-wordpress-2021-39202- Updated
- 2026-11-02
OSVBIT-wordpress-multisite-2021-39202 No score
WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MySQL or MariaDB database. In affected versions the widgets editor introduced in WordPress 5.8 beta 1 has improper handling of HTML input in the Custom HTML feature. This leads to stored XSS in the custom HTML widget. This has been patched in WordPress 5.8. It was only present during the testing/beta phase of WordPress 5.8.
- Record
BIT-wordpress-multisite-2021-39202- Updated
- 2026-11-02
Affected products
Affected packages
| Package | Affected | Fixed |
|---|---|---|
wordpressUbuntu:16.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.3+dfsg-14.3.1+dfsg-14.4+dfsg-14.4.1+dfsg-14.4.2+dfsg-14.4.2+dfsg-1ubuntu1 |
None known |
wordpressUbuntu:18.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 4.8.2+dfsg-24.8.3+dfsg-14.9.1+dfsg-14.9.2+dfsg-14.9.4+dfsg-14.9.5+dfsg1-1 |
None known |
wordpressUbuntu:20.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 5.2.2+dfsg1-15.2.4+dfsg1-15.3.2+dfsg1-15.3.2+dfsg1-1ubuntu1 |
None known |
wordpressUbuntu:22.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 5.7.1+dfsg1-2ubuntu15.8.1+dfsg1-2ubuntu15.8.2+dfsg1-1ubuntu15.8.3+dfsg1-1ubuntu15.8.3+dfsg1-1ubuntu1.1 |
None known |
wordpressUbuntu:24.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 6.2+dfsg1-1ubuntu16.4.3+dfsg1-1ubuntu1 |
None known |
wordpressUbuntu:25.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 6.7.2+dfsg1-1.1ubuntu1 |
None known |
wordpressUbuntu:26.10 |
All versions, plus listed versions 6.7.2+dfsg1-1.1ubuntu2 |
None known |
wordpressUbuntu:26.04:LTS |
All versions, plus listed versions 6.7.2+dfsg1-1.1ubuntu16.7.2+dfsg1-1.1ubuntu2 |
None known |
History
| Recorded | Changed | Sources |
|---|---|---|
| affected | ||
| aliases | EUVD | |
| first indexed | CVE List, NVD, OSV |
Dates are when Every CVE recorded each change. Upstream dates may differ.
In short
CVE-2021-39202 is a high vulnerability (CVSS 7.6) in Wordpress, published September 9, 2021. No source lists public exploit code. EPSS puts the chance of exploitation in the next 30 days at 0.82%, the 57th percentile. No source names a fixed version.