WordPress 5.3.1 Released

WordPress 5.3.1 is Out

This new version of WordPress is a security and maintenance release and we suggest all WordPress website owners do this upgrade.

WordPress 5.3.1 Security Release (wordpress.org)

This security and maintenance release features 46 fixes and enhancements. Plus, it adds a number of security fixes

Security updates

Four security issues affect WordPress versions 5.3 and earlier; version 5.3.1 fixes them, so you’ll want to upgrade. If you haven’t yet updated to 5.3, there are also updated versions of 5.2 and earlier that fix the security issues.

• Props to Daniel Bachhuber for finding an issue where an unprivileged user could make a post sticky via the REST API.
• Props to Simon Scannell of RIPS Technologies for finding and disclosing an issue where cross-site scripting (XSS) could be stored in well-crafted links.
• Props to the WordPress.org Security Team for hardening wp_kses_bad_protocol() to ensure that it is aware of the named colon attribute.
• Props to Nguyen The Duc for discovering a stored XSS vulnerability using block editor content.

Maintenance updates

Here are a few of the highlights:

• Administration: improvements to admin form controls height and alignment standardization (see related dev note), dashboard widget links accessibility and alternate color scheme readability issues (see related dev note).
• Block editor: fix Edge scrolling issues and intermittent JavaScript issues.
• Bundled themes: add customizer option to show/hide author bio, replace JS based smooth scroll with CSS (see related dev note) and fix Instagram embed CSS.
• Date/time: improve non-GMT dates calculation, fix date format output in specific languages and make get_permalink() more resilient against PHP timezone changes.
• Embeds: remove CollegeHumor oEmbed provider as the service doesn’t exist anymore.
• External libraries: update sodium_compat.
• Site health: allow the remind interval for the admin email verification to be filtered.
• Uploads: avoid thumbnails overwriting other uploads when filename matches, and exclude PNG images from scaling after upload.
• Users: ensure administration email verification uses the user’s locale instead of the site locale.

More About the Upgrade…

The previous version of WordPress was 5.3 on November 13, 2019. Our Website Maintenance Department will be in contact with you regarding these upgrades. Clients that have signed up for our Automatic WordPress Update Program or Website Care program will get their website updated in the next week or so or if a follow-up version of WordPress is released. View the complete list of WordPress versions here and here. Read more about why WordPress updates are important.

What is the “Website Care” Program?

If you haven’t heard about our Website Care program, then you’re missing out on savings and peace of mind! There are different levels to choose from but with each level, you get your installation of WordPress checked weekly for updates to the core software, plugins and themes. The benefit is that your website software is kept up to date. This work is done by hand and we test your website after the upgrade to make sure everything works like it should. The program is either by monthly subscription or you can save 10% and pay for a year in advance. When you use this program you save about 40% on updating WordPress. It’s kind of a no-brainer! Sleep better knowing that your website is being taken care of when you enroll in our Website Care program today! -Webstix Support