CVE-2022-21661

CRITICALNVD 8.09.0
EchelonGraph scoreHIGH confidence

“▲” 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.

Triggered by: EPSS exploit prediction (continuous uplift above 30%)
Sources: EPSS, NVD CVSS v3
Weaponized
9.0EG
EchelonGraph verdictPlan a fixRemediate within your standard update timelines at low or medium mission impact and sooner than that at high (the SSVC decision on this page).
  • High exploitation likelihood — EPSS 98%
  • Public exploit or proof-of-concept code is available
CISA-KEV: Not listedEPSS PROB: 98%CVSS: 8.0Exploit: Public PoCExposed services: Not assessed

A fix is available — apply it.

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.

CVSS v3
8.0
EG Score
9.0CRITICALhigh confidence
EG Risk
75
EG 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, 2026
Patch available. Sources: github_commit, github.
Web page

ZDI-22-020 - TrendAI™ Zero Day Initiative™ (ZDI)

https://www.zerodayinitiative.com/advisories/ZDI-22-020/
Web page

WordPress Core 5.8.2 - 'WP_Query' SQL Injection - PHP webapps Exploit

https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/50663
Web page

[SECURITY] [DSA 5039-1] wordpress security update

https://www.debian.org/security/2022/dsa-5039
Web page

WordPress 5.8.3 Security Release – WordPress News

https://wordpress.org/news/2022/01/wordpress-5-8-3-security-release/
Web page

[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/
Web page

[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/
Web pageMentions a patch (unverified)

[SECURITY] [DLA 2884-1] wordpress security update

https://lists.debian.org/debian-lts-announce/2022/01/msg00019.html
GitHub advisoryMentions a patch (unverified)

WordPress: SQL Injection through WP_Query · Advisory · WordPress/wordpress-develop · GitHub

https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-6676-cqfm-gw84
GitHub commit

commit 17efac8c8ec6 (WordPress/wordpress-develop)

Fix landed in WordPress/wordpress-develop commit 17efac8c8ec6 — awaiting tagged release

https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/17efac8c8ec64555eff5cf51a3eff81e06317214

Affected Packages

(6 across 6 ecosystems)
Debian:10(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
wordpress5.0.10+dfsg1-0+deb10u1 ... 5.0.4+dfsg1-1+deb10u2 (7 versions)
  • every version up to 5.0.15+dfsg1-0+deb10u1: fixed in 5.0.15+dfsg1-0+deb10u1
—
Debian:11(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
wordpress5.7.1+dfsg1-2, 5.7.3+dfsg1-0+deb11u1
  • every version up to 5.7.5+dfsg1-0+deb11u1: fixed in 5.7.5+dfsg1-0+deb11u1
—
Debian:12(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
wordpress—
  • every version up to 5.8.3+dfsg1-1: fixed in 5.8.3+dfsg1-1
—
Debian:13(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
wordpress—
  • every version up to 5.8.3+dfsg1-1: fixed in 5.8.3+dfsg1-1
—
Debian:14(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
wordpress—
  • every version up to 5.8.3+dfsg1-1: fixed in 5.8.3+dfsg1-1
—
Debian:9(1)
PackageVulnerable rangeFix by version rangeDependents
wordpress4.7.18+dfsg-1+deb9u1 ... 4.7.5+dfsg-2+deb9u6 (13 versions)
  • every version up to 4.7.22+dfsg-0+deb9u1: fixed in 4.7.22+dfsg-0+deb9u1
—

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.

  1. 2026-10-23 16:47 UTCEG score recompute
  2. 2026-10-22 15:10 UTCEG score recompute
  3. 2026-10-21 13:33 UTCEG score recompute
  4. 2026-10-20 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  5. 2026-10-20 11:57 UTCEG score recompute
  6. 2026-10-19 16:28 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  7. 2026-10-19 10:19 UTCEG score recompute
  8. 2026-10-18 07:22 UTCEG score recompute
  9. 2026-10-17 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  10. 2026-10-17 05:45 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-10-16 04:06 UTCEG score recompute
  12. 2026-10-15 01:03 UTCEG score recompute
  13. 2026-10-13 22:15 UTCEG score recompute
  14. 2026-10-13 16:29 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  15. 2026-10-12 19:01 UTCEG score recompute
  16. 2026-10-12 16:30 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  17. 2026-10-11 23:27 UTCEG score recompute
  18. 2026-10-06 15:14 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  19. 2026-09-30 15:48 UTCEG score recompute
  20. 2026-09-28 13:48 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  21. 2026-09-25 08:36 UTCOSV refresh
  22. 2026-09-24 14:00 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  23. 2026-09-20 20:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  24. 2026-09-12 14:57 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  25. 2026-09-06 00:25 UTCOSV refresh
Show 28 more
  1. 2026-08-28 21:38 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  2. 2026-08-24 14:13 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  3. 2026-08-20 22:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  4. 2026-08-19 11:02 UTCOSV refresh
  5. 2026-08-15 01:27 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  6. 2026-08-04 06:57 UTCOSV refresh
  7. 2026-08-02 02:24 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  8. 2026-07-26 14:52 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  9. 2026-07-23 02:08 UTCEG score recompute
  10. 2026-07-22 22:54 UTCEG score recompute
  11. 2026-07-21 15:22 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  12. 2026-07-18 04:29 UTCOSV refresh
  13. 2026-07-08 15:12 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  14. 2026-07-07 13:44 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  15. 2026-07-06 02:21 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  16. 2026-06-30 00:03 UTCOSV refresh
  17. 2026-06-22 14:24 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  18. 2026-06-16 17:51 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  19. 2026-06-15 17:46 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 98% · 99th percentile
  20. 2026-06-13 22:58 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
  21. 2026-06-12 12:40 UTCOSV refresh
  22. 2026-06-10 22:16 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
  23. 2026-06-10 13:20 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
  24. 2026-06-08 14:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
  25. 2026-06-02 20:11 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
  26. 2026-05-31 00:15 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
  27. 2026-05-28 13:43 UTCEPSS rescoreEPSS 90% · 99th percentile
  28. 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-PoC
    Published Apr 27, 2023

    A Python PoC of CVE-2022-21661, inspired from z92g's Go PoC

    Open source ↗
  • Nucleihttp/cves/2022/CVE-2022-21661.yaml
    Published Mar 28, 2023

    WordPress <5.8.3 - SQL Injection

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCdaniel616/CVE-2022-21661-Demo
    Published Feb 8, 2023

    Demonstration of the SQL injection vulnerability in wordpress 5.8.2

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCWellingtonEspindula/SSI-CVE-2022-21661
    Published 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-2022-21661
    Published Jul 31, 2022

    CVE-2022-21661 exp for Elementor custom skin.

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCz92g/CVE-2022-21661
    Published Jul 28, 2022

    WordPress WP_Query SQL Injection POC

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoC0x4E0x650x6F/Wordpress-cve-CVE-2022-21661
    Published May 28, 2022

    Wordpress 5.8.2 CVE-2022-21661 Vuln enviroment POC exploit

    Open source ↗
  • GitHub PoCpurple-WL/wordpress-CVE-2022-21661
    Published Feb 12, 2022
    Open source ↗
  • Exploit-DBEDB-50663
    Published Jan 13, 2022

    WordPress Core 5.8.2 - 'WP_Query' SQL Injection

    Open source ↗

Frequently asked(5)

What is CVE-2022-21661?
CVE-2022-21661 is a critical-severity vulnerability; its CVE record was published on January 6, 2022. 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…
When was the CVE record for CVE-2022-21661 published?
The CVE record for CVE-2022-21661 was published on January 6, 2022. That is the record's publication date; the vulnerability itself may have been made public earlier. EchelonGraph's copy of the record carries a last-modified date of August 19, 2025; the record at its source may have been updated since.
Is CVE-2022-21661 actively exploited?
CVE-2022-21661 is not currently on CISA's Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog. EchelonGraph's EG-KEV model places it in Tier 2 (Weaponized), which is not evidence of exploitation: CISA's SSVC data says a public PoC exists and its EPSS is 50% or more. EchelonGraph does not test whether exploit code works. FIRST EPSS estimates a 98% probability of exploitation in the next 30 days (99th percentile of EPSS-scored CVEs).
What is the CVSS score of CVE-2022-21661?
CVE-2022-21661 has a CVSS v3 base score of 8.0 (NVD). EchelonGraph synthesises NVD + CISA KEV + FIRST EPSS + GHSA into a combined EG score of 9.0 (CRITICAL).
How do I remediate CVE-2022-21661?
A fix for CVE-2022-21661 is available: update to the fixed version the vendor names in its advisory.

Dependency Blast Radius

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