As always the WordPress Team has been busy fine tuning the core of the platform and fixing any bugs or security issues that might have been found.
The latest release addresses three issues, including two cross-site scripting vulnerabilities and a potential privilege escalation.
What is cross-site scripting?
XSS as it’s known is a means for an attacker to inject code into a web page that is viewed.
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What is a Privilege Escalation?
This is exploited when a bug in a system allows a person to have more privileges on a system than they are supposed to have. So if an individual is only supposed to have the role of contributor, with this type of bug they could now potentially have the capability of an Author, Editor or Admin.
What do you need to do?
Just update your WordPress Version to the latest release. Sign into your website, on the left hand side of your Admin Menu Sidebar towards the top just click on updates, then update the system. If you don’t currently have a notification of any available updates, your system might have auto updated or you could click the button that says Check Again. This will force another check and if any updates are available, just update and you are done.
The Takeaway
WordPress is the most popular system used to create websites and blogs. As all systems, there are often bugs that exist that can impact usability or security.
The beauty of WordPress is that it is actively maintained by a talented team of developers and volunteers that work 24 hours per day. This means that issues that might exist are found quickly and patches released.
WordPress, like Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, Android, IOS and other systems need updates to ensure a relieable platform for end users. So you shouldn’t be concerned about using the system to power your site or blog. Just make sure to follow best practices of updating, scanning and backing up your website.