diff --git a/wp-includes/class-wp-http-cookie.php b/wp-includes/class-wp-http-cookie.php
index e7ea4bc96d..8f55e4486c 100644
--- a/wp-includes/class-wp-http-cookie.php
+++ b/wp-includes/class-wp-http-cookie.php
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ class WP_Http_Cookie {
 
 		// Host - very basic check that the request URL ends with the domain restriction (minus leading dot).
 		$domain = ( str_starts_with( $domain, '.' ) ) ? substr( $domain, 1 ) : $domain;
-		if ( substr( $url['host'], -strlen( $domain ) ) !== $domain ) {
+		if ( ! str_ends_with( $url['host'], $domain ) ) {
 			return false;
 		}
 
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ class WP_Http_Cookie {
 		}
 
 		// Path - request path must start with path restriction.
-		if ( substr( $url['path'], 0, strlen( $path ) ) !== $path ) {
+		if ( ! str_starts_with( $url['path'], $path ) ) {
 			return false;
 		}
 
diff --git a/wp-includes/deprecated.php b/wp-includes/deprecated.php
index 750260ab56..36be77efdd 100644
--- a/wp-includes/deprecated.php
+++ b/wp-includes/deprecated.php
@@ -980,7 +980,7 @@ function get_links($category = -1, $before = '', $after = '<br />', $between = '
 		$title = $desc;
 
 		if ( $show_updated )
-			if (substr($row->link_updated_f, 0, 2) !== '00')
+			if ( !str_starts_with($row->link_updated_f, '00') )
 				$title .= ' ('.__('Last updated') . ' ' . gmdate(get_option('links_updated_date_format'), $row->link_updated_f + (get_option('gmt_offset') * HOUR_IN_SECONDS)) . ')';
 
 		if ( '' != $title )
diff --git a/wp-includes/kses.php b/wp-includes/kses.php
index e33909ca7c..df9ae74b08 100644
--- a/wp-includes/kses.php
+++ b/wp-includes/kses.php
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ function wp_kses_one_attr( $attr, $element ) {
 			$quote = $value[0];
 		}
 		if ( '"' === $quote || "'" === $quote ) {
-			if ( substr( $value, -1 ) !== $quote ) {
+			if ( ! str_ends_with( $value, $quote ) ) {
 				return '';
 			}
 			$value = substr( $value, 1, -1 );
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index 04ceb76707..0c7435b0f4 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '6.3-alpha-56019';
+$wp_version = '6.3-alpha-56020';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.