Software Update: WordPress 5.4.2

The second update for version 5.4 of WordPress has been released. With this program, which is made available under a GPL license, it is possible to set up and maintain a website or blog. WordPress is easy to set up and can be up and running within five minutes if a server with PHP and MySQL is already available. There are possibilities to further extend the functionality of WordPress with plugins and the look with themes to adjust.

In version 5.0, in addition to a new theme, a completely new editor has also been introduced. However, the old editor is still present and is now called classic editor. The following changes and improvements have been made in this release.

WordPress 5.4.2 Security and Maintenance Release

This security and maintenance release features 23 fixes and enhancements. Plus, it adds a number of security fixes—see the list below. These bugs affect WordPress versions 5.4.1 and earlier; version 5.4.2 fixes them, so you’ll want to upgrade.If you haven’t yet updated to 5.4, there are also updated versions of 5.3 and earlier that fix the bugs for you.

Security Updates

WordPress versions 5.4 and earlier are affected by the following bugs, which are fixed in version 5.4.2. If you haven’t yet updated to 5.4, there are also updated versions of 5.3 and earlier that fix the security issues.

• Props to Sam Thomas (jazzy2fives) for finding an XSS issue where authenticated users with low privileges are able to add JavaScript to posts in the block editor.
• Props to Luigi – (gubello.me) for discovering an XSS issue where authenticated users with upload permissions are able to add JavaScript to media files.
• Props to Ben Bidner of the WordPress Security Team for finding an open redirect issue in wp_validate_redirect().
• props to Nrimo Ing Pandum for finding an authenticated XSS issue via theme uploads.
• props to Simon Scannell of RIPS Technologies for finding an issue where set-screen-option can be misused by plugins leading to privilege escalation.
• props to Carolina Nymark for discovering an issue where comments from password-protected posts and pages could be displayed under certain conditions.

Thank you to all of the reporters for privately disclosing the vulnerabilities† This gave the security team time to fix the vulnerabilities before WordPress sites could be attacked. One maintenance update was also deployed to versions 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3. see the related developer note for more information. You can browse the full list of changes on Trac†

For more info, browse the full list of changes on Trac or check out the Version 5.4.2 documentation page† WordPress 5.4.2 is a short cycle maintenance release. The next major release will be version 5.5†