WordPress is a free and open-source content management system written in PHP and paired with a MariaDB database. Due to improper sanitization in WP_Query, there can be cases where SQL injection is possible through plugins or themes that use it in a certain way. This has been patched in WordPress version 5.8.3. Older affected versions are also fixed via security release, that go back till 3.7.37. We strongly recommend that you keep auto-updates enabled. There are no known workarounds for this vulnerability.
CVE-2022-21661
“▲” beside the score: it is higher than NVD's CVSS score.
Score elevated to 9.0 because EPSS predicted 98% probability of exploitation within the next 30 days (99th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs) when EchelonGraph scored this CVE. NVD baseline CVSS 8.0 retained for reference. Confidence: see factors.
- High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 98%
- Public exploit or proof-of-concept code is available
A fix is available — apply it.
- CVSS v3
- 8.0
- EG Score
- 9.0CRITICALhigh confidence
- EG Risk
- 75EG Risk 75/100
EG Risk is EchelonGraph's 0–100 priority score. It fuses impact severity (EG Severity, the CVSS base score, never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score) with real-world exploitation and automatability, under weights EchelonGraph set by hand, so you can rank equal-severity CVEs and fix the most dangerous first. Higher = act sooner.
How it’s computed (value × EchelonGraph’s weight)Severity80% × 45%Impact severity (EG Severity): CVSS 8.0 of 10. Never the KEV-floored or EPSS-lifted EG Score.Exploitation98% × 40%FIRST EPSS: the 30-day exploitation probability when EchelonGraph scored this CVE.Automatability0% × 15%CISA's SSVC Automatable value: no (Vulnrichment).SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph): Track at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.Exploitation public PoC (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE.Action: A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high. - EPSS PROB
- 98%
- EPSS %ILE
- 99th
- KEV
- Not listed
What the EG score is made of (scorer v4.0: the three questions the 0–10 score mixes, published apart · methodology)
The EG score (9.0): severity, escalated by confirmed exploitation. This CVE's 9.0 is EPSS's lift toward 9.0 from its impact severity (EG Severity, CVSS 8.0 HIGH): a likelihood of exploitation, not impact.
- EG Severity
- 8.0 HIGHCVSS-B, impact only: no KEV listing, EPSS or EG-KEV tier raises it.NVD CVSS v3 · CVSS v3.0 or v3.1
- EG Likelihood
- 98% within 30 daysSource: FIRST EPSS (model v2026.06.15, score date 2026-10-23). FIRST's exploitation probability, not an EchelonGraph model.
- Confirmed exploitation
- None on record (CISA KEV, EG-KEV Tier 1)Reported apart from the likelihood: an observed fact, not a probability.
- EG Priority
- SSVC Track* at medium mission impactTrack at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.CISA BOD 26-04: 14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.Each input and its source: the SSVC and BOD 26-04 blocks below.
SSVC (CISA's decision table, applied by EchelonGraph)Track at low, Track* at medium and Attend at high mission impact.
A fix is available. Apply it within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high.
Exploitation public PoC (CISA Vulnrichment) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). All three are CISA's SSVC values (Vulnrichment). EchelonGraph applied CISA's decision table to them; CISA publishes SSVC inputs and the table, not a decision for each CVE. Mission impact is CISA's Mission & Well-being decision point, and only you can judge it. CISA's table makes it high when Mission Prevalence is Essential — the vulnerable component "directly provides capabilities that constitute at least one MEF for at least one entity" (MEF: mission essential function) — or when Public Well-Being Impact is Irreversible: "multiple fatalities are likely", the cyber-physical system "is likely lost or destroyed", "extreme or serious externalities" are imposed on other parties, or social systems such as elections or the financial grid "are destabilized and potentially collapse". CISA's decision table
BOD 26-04 (CISA's remediation timeline, Table 1)14 days if the affected system is publicly exposed; Fix on system upgrade if it is not.
In CISA KEV no (CISA's KEV catalog) · Automatable no (CISA Vulnrichment) · Technical impact total (CISA Vulnrichment). Whether your system is publicly exposed is yours to answer. BOD 26-04 binds US Federal Civilian Executive Branch agencies; for anyone else it is CISA's published timeline, a reference rather than an obligation. The directive · how EchelonGraph applies it
Published
January 6, 2022
Last Modified
August 19, 2025
Advisory Details (10)
Auto-updated Sep 20, 2026ZDI-22-020 - TrendAI™ Zero Day Initiative™ (ZDI)
https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-22-020/WordPress Core 5.8.2 - 'WP_Query' SQL Injection - PHP webapps Exploit
https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50663[SECURITY] [DSA 5039-1] wordpress security update
https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5039WordPress 5.8.3 Security Release – WordPress News
https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-security-release/[SECURITY] Fedora 35 Update: wordpress-5.8.3-1.fc35 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/DM6XPH3JN6V4NF4WBOJTOXZIVE6VKKE3/[SECURITY] Fedora 34 Update: wordpress-5.8.3-1.fc34 - package-announce - Fedora mailing-lists
https://lists.fedoraproject.org/archives/list/package-announce%40lists.fedoraproject.org/message/CV4UNEC63UU5GEU47IIR4RMTZAHNEOJG/[SECURITY] [DLA 2884-1] wordpress security update
https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00019.htmlWordPress: SQL Injection through WP_Query · Advisory · WordPress/wordpress-develop · GitHub
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-6676-cqfm-gw84commit 17efac8c8ec6 (WordPress/wordpress-develop)
Fix landed in WordPress/wordpress-develop commit 17efac8c8ec6 — awaiting tagged release
https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/17efac8c8ec64555eff5cf51a3eff81e06317214Locked Out | Packet Storm
http://packetstormsecurity.com/files/165540/WordPress-Core-5.8.2-SQL-Injection.htmlAffected Packages
(6 across 6 ecosystems)
Debian:10(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| wordpress | 5.0.10+dfsg1-0+deb10u1 ... 5.0.4+dfsg1-1+deb10u2 (7 versions) |
| — |
Debian:11(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| wordpress | 5.7.1+dfsg1-2, 5.7.3+dfsg1-0+deb11u1 |
| — |
Debian:12(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| wordpress | — |
| — |
Debian:13(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| wordpress | — |
| — |
Debian:14(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| wordpress | — |
| — |
Debian:9(1)
| Package | Vulnerable range | Fix by version range | Dependents |
|---|---|---|---|
| wordpress | 4.7.18+dfsg-1+deb9u1 ... 4.7.5+dfsg-2+deb9u6 (13 versions) |
| — |
Weakness Classification(1)
MITRE Common Weakness Enumeration — the root-cause categories this CVE belongs to.
Data Freshness Timeline
(refreshed 10× in last 7d / 22× in last 30d)
Each row is a time one of our pipelines fetched, updated or re-scored this CVE. For example, "NVD update" means NVD published or revised its analysis for this CVE; "MITRE cvelistV5" means we ingested or refreshed it from the CNA feed. An arrow marks a change the record states ("CVSS v3 → 9.1"); EPSS and GHSA rows show the values recorded at that time, not what changed (EPSS values are rounded; hover one for the exact figures). Most recent first.
A repeat, a row identical to one the same pipeline wrote less than 10 seconds earlier, is not a separate refresh and is not counted. 9 repeat rows among the latest 62 are merged into the row they repeat.
- 2026-10-23 16:47 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-22 15:10 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-21 13:33 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-20 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-20 11:57 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-19 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-19 10:19 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-18 07:22 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-17 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-17 05:45 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-16 04:06 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-15 01:03 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-13 22:15 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-13 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-12 19:01 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-12 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-10-11 23:27 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-10-06 15:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-30 15:48 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-09-28 13:48 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-25 08:36 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-09-24 14:00 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-20 20:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-12 14:57 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-09-06 00:25 UTCOSV refresh
Show 28 moreShow fewer
- 2026-08-28 21:38 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-24 14:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-20 22:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-19 11:02 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-15 01:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-08-04 06:57 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-08-02 02:24 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-26 14:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-23 02:08 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-22 22:54 UTCEG score recompute
- 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-18 04:29 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-07-08 15:12 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-07 13:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-30 00:03 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-12 12:40 UTCOSV refresh
- 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-10 13:20 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
- 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
- 2026-05-26 05:15 UTCEG score recompute
Publicly available exploits
(9 references)Public exploit code is referenced for this CVE (1 Exploit-DB entry, 7 GitHub PoCs), as is 1 Nuclei detection template. A detection template checks whether a system is affected; it is not necessarily exploit code. Defenders should treat patch urgency accordingly.
- GitHub PoCsealldeveloper/CVE-2022-21661-PoCPublished Apr 27, 2023
A Python PoC of CVE-2022-21661, inspired from z92g's Go PoC
Open source ↗ - Nucleihttp/cves/2022/CVE-2022-21661.yamlPublished Mar 28, 2023
WordPress <5.8.3 - SQL Injection
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCdaniel616/CVE-2022-21661-DemoPublished Feb 8, 2023
Demonstration of the SQL injection vulnerability in wordpress 5.8.2
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCWellingtonEspindula/SSI-CVE-2022-21661Published Jan 13, 2023
Study and exploit the vulnerability CVE-2022-21661 that allows SQL Injections through plugins POST requests to WordPress versions below 5.8.3.
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCguestzz/CVE-2022-21661Published Jul 31, 2022
CVE-2022-21661 exp for Elementor custom skin.
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoCz92g/CVE-2022-21661Published Jul 28, 2022
WordPress WP_Query SQL Injection POC
Open source ↗ - GitHub PoC0x4E0x650x6F/Wordpress-cve-CVE-2022-21661Published May 28, 2022
Wordpress 5.8.2 CVE-2022-21661 Vuln enviroment POC exploit
Open source ↗ - Open source ↗GitHub PoCpurple-WL/wordpress-CVE-2022-21661Published Feb 12, 2022
- Exploit-DBEDB-50663Published Jan 13, 2022
WordPress Core 5.8.2 - 'WP_Query' SQL Injection
Open source ↗
Related CVEs(same product + same CWE)
Same product
10 shownDebian:10:wordpress
- CVE-2020-28037EG 9.8EPSS p95CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-28036EG 9.8EPSS p92CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-28035EG 9.8EPSS p91CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-28032EG 9.8EPSS p97CRITICAL
- CVE-2019-17670EG 9.8EPSS p91CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-28039EG 9.1EPSS p91CRITICAL
- CVE-2021-29447NVD 7.1EG 9.0EPSS p100CRITICAL
- CVE-2020-11026EG 8.7HIGH
- CVE-2022-21662NVD 8.0EG 8.6EPSS p99HIGH
- CVE-2020-28033EG 7.5HIGH
Same CWE
10 shownCWE-89
Frequently asked(5)
What is CVE-2022-21661?
When was the CVE record for CVE-2022-21661 published?
Is CVE-2022-21661 actively exploited?
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-21661?
How do I remediate CVE-2022-21661?
Dependency Blast Radius
See which npm, PyPI, Go, and Maven packages are affected by CVE-2022-21661
Is Your Infrastructure Affected by CVE-2022-21661?
EchelonGraph automatically scans your cloud infrastructure and maps CVE exposure using blast radius analysis.