CVE-2017-5487 — wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-users-controller

wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-users-controller.php in the REST API implementation in WordPress 4.7 before 4.7.1 does not properly restrict listings of post authors, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via a wp-json/wp/v2/users request.

01What is this vulnerability?

wp-includes/rest-api/endpoints/class-wp-rest-users-controller.php in the REST API implementation in WordPress 4.7 before 4.7.1 does not properly restrict listings of post authors, which allows remote attackers to obtain sensitive information via a wp-json/wp/v2/users request.

02Affected products

No structured affected-product list available — see references below for vendor advisories.

03Active exploitation status

Not currently listed on the CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog. EPSS is the best forward-looking signal — see the EPSS row above.

04Recommended remediation

• Patch to a fixed version listed in the vendor advisory (see references below).
• Mitigate with WAF rules, network egress filters, or feature flags where the patch is not yet available.
• Hunt historical logs for exploitation indicators — see Detection signatures below.

05Technical details

For the full vendor write-up, exploit chains, and reference implementations, see the references list in section 09.

06Detection signatures

Ask SARA in chat to draft a starting detection for this CVE in your stack of choice.

07Related CVEs

No directly-cited follow-up CVEs in the KB record for this advisory. The references list in section 09 carries the vendor cross-references.

08Timeline

• Published: 2017-01-15T02:59:02.797
• Last modified: 2026-05-13T00:24:29.033

09References

• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/14/6
• www.securityfocus.com — http://www.securityfocus.com/bid/95391
• www.securitytracker.com — http://www.securitytracker.com/id/1037591
• codex.wordpress.org — https://codex.wordpress.org/Version_4.7.1
• github.com — https://github.com/WordPress/WordPress/commit/daf358983cc1ce0c77bf6d2de2ebbb43df…
• wordpress.org — https://wordpress.org/news/2017/01/wordpress-4-7-1-security-and-maintenance-rele…
• wpvulndb.com — https://wpvulndb.com/vulnerabilities/8715
• www.exploit-db.com — https://www.exploit-db.com/exploits/41497/
• www.wordfence.com — https://www.wordfence.com/blog/2016/12/wordfence-blocks-username-harvesting-via-…
• www.openwall.com — http://www.openwall.com/lists/oss-security/2017/01/14/6