Description
In in wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-posts-controller.php in WordPress 3.7 to 5.3.0, authenticated users who do not have the rights to publish a post are able to mark posts as sticky or unsticky via the REST API. For example, the contributor role does not have such rights, but this allowed them to bypass that. This has been patched in WordPress 5.3.1, along with all the previous WordPress versions from 3.7 to 5.3 via a minor release.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | wordpress | 5.3.2+dfsg1-1 | — |
| Debian 13 | wordpress | 5.3.2+dfsg1-1 | — |
| Debian 12 | wordpress | 5.3.2+dfsg1-1 | — |
| Debian 10 | wordpress | 5.0.4+dfsg1-1+deb10u1 | DSA-4599-1 |
Ubuntu
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu 18.04 LTS | wordpress | No fix yet | — |
| Ubuntu 16.04 LTS | wordpress | No fix yet | — |
Advisories 1
- DSA-4599-1 wordpress - security update Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/9973
- https://wordpress.org/news/2019/12/wordpress-5-3-1-security-and-maintenance-release/
- https://core.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/46893/trunk
- https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/commit/1d1d5be7aa94608c04516cac4238e8c22b93c1d9
- 20200108 [SECURITY] [DSA 4599-1] wordpress security update mailing-list
- DSA-4599 vendor-advisory
- https://github.com/WordPress/wordpress-develop/security/advisories/GHSA-g7rg-hchx-c2gw
- DSA-4677 vendor-advisory