W3 Total Cache Command Injection Vulnerability Exposes 1 Million WordPress Sites to RCE Attacks
A critical command injection vulnerability has been discovered in the W3 Total Cache plugin, one of WordPress’s most popular caching solutions used by approximately 1 million websites.
The vulnerability, tracked as CVE-2025-9501 with a CVSS severity score of 9.0 (Critical), allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary PHP commands directly on vulnerable servers.
W3 Total Cache Vulnerability
The flaw exists in the _parse_dynamic_mfunc function, which processes dynamic function calls without proper input validation.
Attackers can exploit this weakness by submitting a malicious payload through WordPress comment submissions on any post.
| Field | Details |
|---|---|
| CVE ID | CVE-2025-9501 |
| Plugin | W3 Total Cache |
| Vulnerability Type | Command Injection |
| Fixed Version | 2.8.13 |
| CVSS Score | 9.0 (Critical) |
| CWE | CWE-78 |
| Attack Vector | Comment submission with malicious payload |
Because the vulnerability requires no authentication and minimal user interaction, it poses an immediate and severe threat to all unpatched installations.
The vulnerability belongs to the Injection category (OWASP A1). It is classified as CWE-78: Improper Blocking of Special Elements used in an OS Command.
This means attackers can execute arbitrary operating system commands with the privileges of the web server process.
W3 Total Cache maintains a critical role in WordPress infrastructure, providing advanced caching functionality that site administrators rely on for performance optimization.
The broad adoption makes this vulnerability particularly concerning, as each affected installation represents a potential entry point for Remote Code Execution (RCE) attacks.
Attackers exploiting this vulnerability could achieve complete server compromise, including data theft, malware installation, ransomware deployment, and website defacement.
The vulnerability’s public disclosure on October 27, 2025, increases the urgency for immediate remediation.
The W3 Total Cache development team released a patch in version 2.8.13 to address the command injection flaw. WordPress site administrators must immediately update to this patched version or later.
Security teams should review server logs for suspicious comment submissions and unusual PHP execution patterns that may indicate exploitation attempts.
WordPress website administrators should prioritize this update as critical. Organizations managing multiple WordPress installations should implement automated patching systems.
Security monitoring should be heightened for any signs of unauthorized command execution, file modifications, or unexpected outbound connections that may indicate successful exploitation.
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The post W3 Total Cache Command Injection Vulnerability Exposes 1 Million WordPress Sites to RCE Attacks appeared first on Cyber Security News.
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