GHSA-3pwp-g2mj-5p3v
HIGHGHSA-3pwp-g2mj-5p3v is a high-severity (CVSS 8.6) CWE-95 vulnerability in wp-coding-standards/wpcs. O3 Security confirms whether GHSA-3pwp-g2mj-5p3v is actually reachable in your code before you act, and blocks exploitation at runtime until you patch.
WordPress Coding Standards (WordPressCS) contains an arbitrary code execution vulnerability
Blast Radius
wp-coding-standards/wpcsReal-time download stats are indexed for npm and PyPI packages. This vulnerability affects Packagist packages — download data is not available via public APIs for these ecosystems.
Description
Impact
WordPress Coding Standards (WordPressCS) versions before 3.4.1 contain an arbitrary code execution vulnerability in the WordPress.WP.EnqueuedResourceParameters sniff. As a result, running PHPCS with WordPressCS over untrusted PHP code, for example, in a CI pipeline that lints pull requests, or on a developer machine reviewing third-party code, could lead to arbitrary command execution on the scanning host.
This affects users of the WordPress and WordPress-Extra rulesets. The WordPress-Core ruleset and the WordPress-Docs ruleset are not affected.
The vulnerability happens when the sniff checks whether the $var argument passed to functions such as wp_enqueue_script() or wp_register_script() evaluates to a falsy value. The sniff's is_falsy() method reconstructed the argument and ran it through eval(). Because of this, a maliciously crafted $ver argument such as 'system'('id') would be executed during the scan.
Patches
This issue has been fixed in WordPressCS 3.4.1. We recommend all users upgrade to 3.4.1 or later.
Workaround
Users of the WordPress and WordPress-Extra rulesets, who cannot upgrade immediately, can disable the affected sniff by adding an <exclude> tag to their custom ruleset (the <rule> ref value might vary depending on the ruleset):
<rule ref="WordPress">
<exclude name="WordPress.WP.EnqueuedResourceParameters"/>
</rule>
To verify that the sniff has been disabled, run PHPCS with the -e flag, which lists all the sniffs a standard will run. WordPress.WP.EnqueuedResourceParameters should no longer appear in the output under the WordPress section:
phpcs -e --standard=/path/to/ruleset.xml
Credits
Many thanks to @FORIMOC for responsibly disclosing this vulnerability.
How can I report a security bug?
Please report security vulnerabilities privately via the "Security and quality" tab on the WPCS repository.
Affected Packages
| Ecosystem | Package | Vulnerable range | Fix |
|---|---|---|---|
| 🐘Packagist | wp-coding-standards/wpcs | ≥ 0.14.1&&< 3.4.1 | 3.4.1 |
Detection & mitigation playbook
Open-source dependencyDetect
Scan your dependency tree (package-lock.json, pnpm-lock.yaml, requirements.txt, go.sum, etc.) for wp-coding-standards/wpcs. O3's reachability analysis confirms whether the vulnerable code path is actually invoked in your application, so you act on real exposure instead of every transitive match.
Fix
Update wp-coding-standards/wpcs to 3.4.1 or later, then make sure no transitive (indirect) dependency still pins the vulnerable range — O3 confirms GHSA-3pwp-g2mj-5p3v is resolved across your whole dependency graph.
Workarounds
If you can't upgrade right away: gate or disable the affected feature, validate untrusted input at the boundary, and avoid passing attacker-controlled data into the vulnerable path. O3's runtime protection blocks exploitation in production as an interim safeguard until the upgrade lands.
How O3 protects you
O3 pinpoints whether GHSA-3pwp-g2mj-5p3v is reachable in your code and exactly where to fix it, then blocks exploitation in production at runtime until the patched version is deployed.
Tailored to GHSA-3pwp-g2mj-5p3v. Runtime protection reduces exposure until a permanent patch is applied and verified — it complements patching, it doesn't replace it.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is GHSA-3pwp-g2mj-5p3v in your dependencies?
O3 detects GHSA-3pwp-g2mj-5p3v across Packagist dependencies and uses function-level reachability to confirm whether the vulnerable code path is actually reachable — not just present. No false positives.