CVE-2020-28039
is_protected_meta in wp-includes/meta.php in WordPress before 5.5.2 allows arbitrary file deletion because it does not properly determine whether a meta key is considered protected.
02 Description
is_protected_meta in wp-includes/meta.php in WordPress before 5.5.2 allows arbitrary file deletion because it does not properly determine whether a meta key is considered protected.
03 Exploitation and scoring
- Exploitation
- Not assessed. CISA has not published an exploitation assessment for this record, and it is not in the KEV catalog. That is an absence of assessment, not a finding of no risk.
- SSVC decision
- Not assessed by CISA
- EPSS probability
- 4.10% probability of exploitation activity in the next 30 days.
- EPSS percentile
- Equal to or higher than the score of 90.3% of scored records. A rank, not a probability.
- NVD base score
- 9.1 (CVSS v3.x), scored by the NVD independently of the CNA.
- NVD CVSS vector
- CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:N/I:H/A:H
- NVD analysis status
- Modified. NVD last modified this record on 2026-06-17.
- Red Hat severity
- No Red Hat rating. Red Hat rates the CVEs that affect its products.
Exploit-prediction scores from FIRST. Independent scoring and analysis status from the NVD. Vendor severity from Red Hat. Exploitation assessment and catalog membership from CISA.
04 Metadata
- Published
- 2020-10-31 00:58Z5 YR AGO
- Last updated
- 2024-08-04 16:33Z2 YR AGO
- Reserved
- 2020-10-31
- Assigning CNA
- mitre
- Record state
- PUBLISHED
- Severity
- Not rated by the issuing CNA
- CNA CVSS vector
- Not published by the issuing CNA
- Weaknesses
- No CWE assigned
- Data version
- 5.1
- Document digest
- 62bb269dcb4a8a201bd25d9de6b70ac8b1af612f3b146333792df6cab02d1499
05 Affected products
06 References
- wordpress.orghttps://wordpress.org/news/2020/10/wordpress-5-5-2-security-and-maintenance-release/
- wpscan.comhttps://wpscan.com/vulnerability/10452
- github.comhttps://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/d5ddd6d4be1bc9fd16b7796842e6fb26315705ad
- lists.debian.org[debian-lts-announce] 20201103 [SECURITY] [DLA 2429-1] wordpress security updatehttps://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2020/11/msg00004.html
- www.debian.orgDSA-4784https://www.debian.org/security/2020/dsa-4784
- lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2020-15e15c35dahttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VAVVYJKA2I6CRQUINECDPBGWMQDEG244/
- lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2020-a764b11b52https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/VUXVUAKL2HL4QYJEPHBNVQQWRMFMII2Y/
- lists.fedoraproject.orgFEDORA-2020-b386fac43ahttps://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CHHVNK2WYAM3ZTCXTFSEIT56IKLVJHU3/
07 Fixed in
Arch Linux
- wordpress Fixed in 5.5.3-1
Source: Arch Linux Security Tracker, the Arch Linux security team. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Debian 12
- wordpress Fixed in 5.5.3+dfsg1-1
Source: Debian Security Tracker, the Debian security team. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Debian 13
- wordpress Fixed in 5.5.3+dfsg1-1
Source: Debian Security Tracker, the Debian security team. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Debian 14
- wordpress Fixed in 5.5.3+dfsg1-1
Source: Debian Security Tracker, the Debian security team. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Ubuntu 16.04 LTS
- wordpress No fix yet
Source: Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Ubuntu 18.04 LTS
- wordpress No fix yet
Source: Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Ubuntu 20.04 LTS
- wordpress No fix yet
Source: Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Ubuntu 22.04 LTS
- wordpress No fix yet
Source: Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Ubuntu 24.04 LTS
- wordpress No fix yet
Source: Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Ubuntu 25.10
- wordpress No fix yet
Source: Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Ubuntu 26.04 LTS
- wordpress No fix yet
Source: Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
Ubuntu 26.10
- wordpress No fix yet
Source: Ubuntu, Canonical Ltd. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Received through OSV.dev. Reformatted by exploit.cc.
A release or ecosystem missing from this list has no record here. It may be unaffected or not covered by the source. Source notices and licences.