WordPress security changelog
CRITICAL CVE-2025-9501 Deferred

W3 Total Cache: A security weakness

W3 Total Cache is affected by a security weakness. The vulnerable path is reachable without authentication. The resulting impact depends on how the affected component exposes the vulnerable operation.

CVE / CNA score 9.0 CVSS 3.1 · 134c704f-9b21-4f2e-91b3-4a467353bcc0
NVD score Pending NVD has not published its own CVSS assessment.
Component
W3 Total Cache
Plugin slug
w3-total-cache
Affected
See vendor advisory
Safe version
See mitigation notes
Published
Nov 17, 2025
Weakness
Not assigned

This CVE was published Nov 17, 2025 and is one of 19 known issues for this plugin.

Update, patch or deactivate.

Update W3 Total Cache to a release outside the affected range, or disable and remove it until a fixed version is available.

No confirmed safe version is listed. Consider a vendor-supported patch or temporarily restricting the affected functionality while you assess the risk.

Deactivate only when warranted by your risk profile, or when advised by your hosting provider in the limited circumstances where the vulnerability cannot otherwise be mitigated. If you’re unsure which action is appropriate, contact Fused or your hosting provider for guidance.

Technical description

The W3 Total Cache WordPress plugin before 2.8.13 is vulnerable to command injection via the _parse_dynamic_mfunc function, allowing unauthenticated users to execute PHP commands by submitting a comment with a malicious payload to a post.

CVE / CNA vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Primary and upstream sources