WordPress up to 6.1.1 Scheduled Task wp-cron.php resource consumption

Summaryinfo

A vulnerability identified as problematic has been detected in WordPress up to 6.1.1. This vulnerability affects unknown code of the file wp-cron.php of the component Scheduled Task Handler. This manipulation causes an unknown weakness. The identification of this vulnerability is CVE-2023-22622. It is possible to initiate the attack remotely. There is no exploit available.

Detailsinfo

A vulnerability was found in WordPress up to 6.1.1 (Content Management System). It has been declared as problematic. Affected by this vulnerability is some unknown functionality of the file wp-cron.php of the component Scheduled Task Handler. The CWE definition for the vulnerability is CWE-400. The product does not properly control the allocation and maintenance of a limited resource, thereby enabling an actor to influence the amount of resources consumed, eventually leading to the exhaustion of available resources. As an impact it is known to affect confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The summary by CVE is:

WordPress through 6.1.1 depends on unpredictable client visits to cause wp-cron.php execution and the resulting security updates, and the source code describes "the scenario where a site may not receive enough visits to execute scheduled tasks in a timely manner," but neither the installation guide nor the security guide mentions this default behavior, or alerts the user about security risks on installations with very few visits.

The weakness was shared 01/05/2023. The advisory is shared at wordpress.org. This vulnerability is known as CVE-2023-22622 since 01/05/2023. Technical details are known, but no exploit is available. The price for an exploit might be around USD $0-$5k at the moment (estimation calculated on 10/02/2025). MITRE ATT&CK project uses the attack technique T1499 for this issue.

By approaching the search of inurl:wp-cron.php it is possible to find vulnerable targets with Google Hacking.

There is no information about possible countermeasures known. It may be suggested to replace the affected object with an alternative product.

The vulnerability is also documented in the vulnerability database at EUVD (EUVD-2023-26757). If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

Productinfo

Type

• Content Management System

Name

• WordPress

Version

• 6.1.0
• 6.1.1

License

• open-source

Website

• Product: https://wordpress.com/

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If you want to get the best quality for vulnerability data then you always have to consider VulDB.

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