Improper Certificate Validation in WP-CLI framework

Exploitation

No confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next marks exploitation only from CISA KEV.

CVSS

9.1 · CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:N

EPSS

• CVE-2021-29504: 1.31% estimated exploitation activity in the next 30 days; percentile 70.72 (FIRST EPSS, 2026-11-03). This is a model estimate, not proof of exploitation or customer exposure.

As published by the source; long descriptions are shortened.

Impact An improper error handling in HTTPS requests management in WP-CLI version 0.12.0 and later allows remote attackers able to intercept the communication to remotely disable the certificate verification on WP-CLI side, gaining full control over the communication content, including the ability to impersonate update servers and push malicious updates towards WordPress instances controlled by the vulnerable WP-CLI agent, or push malicious updates toward WP-CLI itself. Patches The vulnerability stems from the fact that the default behavior of WPCLI\Utils\httprequest() when encountering a TLS handshake error is to disable certificate validation and retry the same request. The default behavior has been changed with version 2.5.0 of WP-CLI and the wp-cli/wp-cli framework (via https://github.com/wp-cli/wp-cli/pull/5523) so that the WPCLI\Utils\httprequest() method accepts an $insecure option that is false by default and consequently that a TLS handshake failure is a hard error by…

Published by the source

19 May 2021, 23:03 UTC

Last modified by the source

7 Feb 2024, 18:52 UTC

Source last checked

26 Oct 2026, 14:16 UTC

1. Revision 1 · created · 26 Oct 2026

   Published from ghsa record GHSA-rwgm-f83r-v3qj

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# Patch Next advisory brief: CVE-2021-29504

Advisory: Improper Certificate Validation in WP-CLI framework
IDs: CVE-2021-29504, GHSA-rwgm-f83r-v3qj
Record: https://patchnext.com/advisories/cve-2021-29504 (revision 1, source checked 26 Oct 2026, 14:16 UTC)
Inventory: none attached. This brief comes from a public page and does not say whether any deployment is affected.
Severity: Critical (CVSS 9.1)
Exploitation: no confirmed exploitation recorded. Patch Next confirms exploitation only from CISA KEV.
Vendor response: Vendor fix available; fixed versions by package: wp-cli/wp-cli 2.5.0. A vendor fix does not mean a deployment is fixed.

## Affected components
- Packagist wp-cli/wp-cli: affected >= 0.12.0, < 2.5.0; fixed in 2.5.0

## Suggested inspection (read-only)
- Packagist wp-cli/wp-cli: check the installed version with your package manager.

## Supported action
Upgrade each affected component to a fixed version on its release line. For a transitive dependency, upgrade the parent package or add an override or constraint, then regenerate the lockfile. Redeploy every environment that ran an affected version.

## Required regression checks
- Run the test suite and a production build.
- Exercise the features that depend on wp-cli/wp-cli.
- Repeat the inspection and confirm that only fixed versions remain installed.

## Rollback considerations
- Keep the previous lockfile and deployment artifact. Rolling back reinstates the vulnerable version, so apply any documented mitigation while you fix forward.

## Unresolved questions
- Which deployments run an affected version?
- Exploitation status can change. Check again before lowering the priority.
- Mark the work resolved only after the fixed version is verified in production.

## Sources
- Verified: https://github.com/advisories/GHSA-rwgm-f83r-v3qj (GitHub-reviewed advisory GHSA-rwgm-f83r-v3qj lists affected ranges: Packagist wp-cli/wp-cli >=0.12.0 <2.5.0)

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