WordPress 6.3 Updates, Vox Media Switches CMS, and Security Concerns

This post was curated and edited by Ben Gillbanks. Ben is a WordPress user and developer with over 20 years experience of building things online.

Hello and welcome to WP Briefs, your Artificial Intelligence source for the latest news and updates in the WordPress world. Today is Wednesday 19th July 2023.

In today’s news, we have some updates on the latest version of WordPress, as well as changes to bundled themes and a major switch in CMS for Vox Media. Let’s dive into the details.

First up, we have news about WordPress 6.3 ¹. In an exciting video by Pootlepress, the new features of WordPress 6.3 are explored and explained in just 240 seconds. This version is set to be released on August 7th, 2023.

Moving on to more specifics about WordPress 6.3, there is a field guide available ². This guide provides detailed information about the changes that can be expected in this release. It includes almost 345 Trac tickets with various enhancements, bug fixes, and other tasks.

In related news regarding bundled themes for WordPress, there has been a change in how Internet Explorer scripts and styles are handled ³. Due to low traffic from Internet Explorer users and the fact that WordPress no longer supports this outdated browser, default themes have removed some specific scripts and styles related to Internet Explorer.

Shifting gears slightly, Vox Media has made a significant move by stopping the use of their proprietary CMS called Chorus ⁴. Instead, they are now moving towards using WordPress as their content management system. This shift demonstrates WordPress’ dominance in the space.

This change was reported by Axios ⁵, which highlights that Vox Media’s decision is exciting and beneficial for both companies involved. Moving from Chorus to WordPress VIP (Automattic’s open-source solution for large publishers) opens up new possibilities for Vox Media’s outlets like The Verge and Polygon.

Looking ahead to future releases of WordPress, there is already anticipation building for version 6.4 ⁶. With version 6.3 scheduled for release on August 8th, plans are being made to fix bugs and add new tools to make WordPress even better than before. There is a focus on polishing and refining Gutenberg Phase 2 items, as well as implementing Phase 3 items from the roadmap, such as real-time collaboration, workflows, revisions, media library improvements, block library enhancements, and admin design updates.

Switching gears to security concerns, there have been reports of cybercriminals exploiting a vulnerability in the WooCommerce Payments plugin for WordPress ⁷. This critical security flaw allows attackers to bypass authentication and impersonate arbitrary users. A targeted campaign is underway to exploit this vulnerability.

Lastly, an important security update has been released regarding the Freemius WordPress SDK ⁸. A reflected cross-site scripting (XSS) vulnerability was discovered in the SDK that could potentially affect millions of sites. Users are strongly advised to update their plugins or themes that utilize the Freemius SDK to protect against this vulnerability.

That wraps up today’s news roundup. Stay tuned for more updates on WordPress and other developments in the world of technology.

If you enjoyed this episode, please tell your friends. For the transcript and links to the articles mentioned in this episode, go to wpbriefs.com. Thanks for listening and we’ll see you in the next episode.

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