WordPress 4.8.1 is an older version that contains 19 known security vulnerabilities, including 1 critical flaw that could allow attackers to bypass authentication entirely. If your website is still running this version, you're at significant risk of compromise. This guide will help you understand the threats and take immediate action to protect your site.
The critical CVE-2025-5397 vulnerability in the Noo JobMonster theme allows attackers to authenticate as users without proper verification. Additionally, high-severity flaws in file uploads and the Jupiter X Core plugin could lead to complete site takeover. With 85 websites still using this version, cybercriminals are actively targeting WordPress 4.8.1 installations.
WordPress 4.8.1 is an older release of the world's most popular website builder, released years ago before many modern security improvements were implemented. This version powers millions of websites globally, but its age means it lacks the security patches and features of current WordPress releases. If you're unfamiliar with WordPress, think of it as the foundation of your website—keeping it updated is like maintaining the locks on your doors.
WordPress versions are numbered sequentially, so 4.8.1 means it's quite outdated compared to WordPress 6.x versions available today. Running an old version is like driving a car without modern safety features—it might still work, but you're missing critical protections that prevent accidents. The longer you wait to update, the more vulnerable your site becomes to automated attacks that specifically target these known weaknesses.
19 CVEs found. The most critical are explained below.
The Noo JobMonster theme has a severe flaw that lets attackers bypass the login system entirely. This means someone can access your website as if they were a legitimate user without needing any password or credentials.
Impact: An attacker could gain full control of your website, steal sensitive data, modify your content, or inject malware that affects all your visitors.
↗ View on NVDWhen someone with permission to upload files (like a content editor) uploads a specially crafted file to your media library, it can execute harmful code when accessed. This bypasses normal file safety checks.
Impact: An attacker with upload access could install backdoors, steal data, or take over your entire website without your knowledge.
↗ View on NVDThe Jupiter X Core plugin has a weakness that allows attackers to inject malicious code through the file download feature. They can trick the plugin into executing commands by manipulating how files are processed.
Impact: An attacker could run arbitrary code on your server, potentially stealing your database, installing malware, or completely compromising your website.
↗ View on NVDWordPress users with author or editor permissions can hide malicious code in media file descriptions. When an administrator views these files, the code executes with their higher-level permissions.
Impact: A compromised author account could be used to inject code that affects admin functions and potentially compromise your entire site.
↗ View on NVDThe WordPress block editor's search feature can be manipulated to execute harmful scripts if someone with content editing access crafts a specially designed search query or block.
Impact: An attacker with editor access could inject code that affects how your website displays to visitors or steals visitor information.
↗ View on NVDThe Oxygen Builder plugin doesn't properly filter user input in custom fields, allowing contributors and editors to inject malicious code that gets stored and executed on your website.
Impact: Contributors with limited access could inject code affecting page displays, stealing visitor data, or redirecting traffic to malicious sites.
↗ View on NVDShowing first 10 of 13. View all on NVD ↗
| CVE ID | Severity | Score | Published | Description |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CVE-2025-3888 | MEDIUM | 6.4 | 2025-05-17 | The Jupiter X Core plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via SVG File inclusion in all versions up to, and including, 4.8.12 due to insufficient input … |
| CVE-2025-2892 | MEDIUM | 6.4 | 2025-05-19 | The All in One SEO – Powerful SEO Plugin to Boost SEO Rankings & Increase Traffic plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the post Meta Description a… |
| CVE-2025-5923 | MEDIUM | 6.4 | 2025-06-13 | The Game Review Block plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to Stored Cross-Site Scripting via the ‘className’ parameter in all versions up to, and including, 4.8.1 due to insufficie… |
| CVE-2019-15112 | MEDIUM | 6.1 | 2019-08-21 | The wp-slimstat plugin before 4.8.1 for WordPress has XSS. |
| CVE-2020-11027 | MEDIUM | 6.1 | 2020-04-30 | In affected versions of WordPress, a password reset link emailed to a user does not expire upon changing the user password. Access would be needed to the email account of the user… |
| CVE-2020-11025 | MEDIUM | 5.8 | 2020-04-30 | In affected versions of WordPress, a cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability in the navigation section of Customizer allows JavaScript code to be executed. Exploitation requires … |
| CVE-2020-11028 | MEDIUM | 5.8 | 2020-04-30 | In affected versions of WordPress, some private posts, which were previously public, can result in unauthenticated disclosure under a specific set of conditions. This has been pat… |
| CVE-2020-11029 | MEDIUM | 5.8 | 2020-04-30 | In affected versions of WordPress, a vulnerability in the stats() method of class-wp-object-cache.php can be exploited to execute cross-site scripting (XSS) attacks. This has been… |
| CVE-2020-4048 | MEDIUM | 5.7 | 2020-06-12 | In affected versions of WordPress, due to an issue in wp_validate_redirect() and URL sanitization, an arbitrary external link can be crafted leading to unintended/open redirect wh… |
| CVE-2020-4046 | MEDIUM | 5.4 | 2020-06-12 | In affected versions of WordPress, users with low privileges (like contributors and authors) can use the embed block in a certain way to inject unfiltered HTML in the block editor… |
| CVE-2022-4666 | MEDIUM | 5.4 | 2023-02-21 | The Markup (JSON-LD) structured in schema.org WordPress plugin through 4.8.1 does not validate and escape some of its shortcode attributes before outputting them back in a page/po… |
| CVE-2020-4050 | LOW | 3.5 | 2020-06-12 | In affected versions of WordPress, misuse of the `set-screen-option` filter's return value allows arbitrary user meta fields to be saved. It does require an admin to install a plu… |
| CVE-2020-4049 | LOW | 2.4 | 2020-06-12 | In affected versions of WordPress, when uploading themes, the name of the theme folder can be crafted in a way that could lead to JavaScript execution in /wp-admin on the themes p… |
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WordPress 4.8.1 is no longer safe for production websites. With a critical authentication bypass vulnerability and 18 additional security flaws, your site is at immediate risk of hacking, data theft, and malware distribution. Updating to the latest WordPress version should be your top priority—the process is straightforward and takes minutes.
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