WordPress has released version 5.21.1, a maintenance release to patch several bugs. This is the 7th overall release of WordPress 5 since it was first launched on December 6, 2018 and the first update to v5.2. This release fixes 33 bugs across 32 tickets, most of which were introduced with v5.2. Durability: This is considered a ‘short cycle’ release, meaning it will be replaced soon as v5.2.2 is release, which is expected in the coming weeks.  

Bugs patched in 5.2.1

1. Gutenberg typing issues in RTL since 5.2
2. At least one function in /wp-includes/sodium_compat/src/Core32 times out on 32 bit servers
3. wp_targeted_link_rel filter should not be applied to ‘Custom HTML` widget
4. Editor: Update packages for WordPress 5.2.1
5. wp_targeted_link_rel corrupts JSON content
6. About: Use $display_version in headings
7. Provide update-php link on WordPress update failure screen
8. Site Health: Pseudo dashicons for list should be vertically centered
9. Privacy tool email field stretches past 100% on mobile
10. Cards on Tools page too wide on mobile
11. jQuery Update 3.4.0 vulnerability
12. ext not vertically centered on site-health.php
13. Skip links misplaced in the responsive view
14. Add aria-current attribute to current item in WP Admin tabs
15. Merge similar strings introduced in WP 5.2
16. Do not use placeholders for HTML tags in strings
17. Do not break strings to avoid HTML tags in them
18. Use a non-zero exit code when requirements are not met
19. Nav Menus: Delete Menu action link is misaligned in responsive view
20. get_search_form function enhanced in 5.2 is not fully backward compatible
21. Console warning with Dashicons font and input type=”radio”
22. Media files cannot be deleted under Windows since 5.2
23. Site Health: Plugins Upgrade Link for Multisite
24. Typing spaces stops working after two soft line breaks in Chrome.
25. Update TinyMCE to 4.9.4 azaozz task (blessed)
26. Wrong singular string in class-wp-site-health.php
27. Uncaught Error: Call to undefined function load_default_textdomain() in /wp-includes/class-wp-fatal-error-handler.php:41
28. 5.2.1 About Page Updates
29. HTTP requests test in Site Health Status is not always correct
30. Feed ‘last build date’ Bug
31. Replace new “fixed %s bugs” string with a pre-existing one
32. Upgrading from WordPress 5.1 to 5.2.1 generates a fatal error

 

Security Upgrades in 5.2.1

None  

Improvements in 5.2.1

None  

Upgrade Problems Reported with v5.2.1

WordPress user ‘cw_mcdowwll’ has stated that they had a problem when their site auto-ugpraded to v5.2.1. They report that their admin dashboards are suddenly returning a 404 not found error. Cw_mcdowwll says that normal pages on the sites appear just fine, but that only the admin dashboards are giving the 404 error.  

Next Major Release

The next major release of WordPress will be v5.3 and it does not yet have a target date or any time frame for release. There are no expectations for new features, improvements, or upgrades that will be included in v5.3 as of this time. This version is currently at 5% complete with 284 active tickets and 16 closed tickets. You can track the progress of v5.3 here https://core.trac.wordpress.org/milestone/5.3  

References

1. Official blog post for v5.2.1
2. WordPress Version v5.2.1 Changelog
3. Trac for 5.2.1
4. Upgrade to 5.2.1 causing 404 error on admin dashboards