CVE-2025-23209: Craft CMS Code Injection Vulnerability

Is it exploited?

Yes. CISA added it to the Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog on 20 Feb 2025, 33 days after the CVE record was published.

How likely is exploitation in the next 30 days?

21.6%

EPSS score, percentile 97.6 of all scored records

How severe?

8.1 High

CVSS v3.1 base score, given by the CNA

What should I do?

Required action (CISA), due 13 Mar 2025: Apply mitigations per vendor instructions or discontinue use of the product if mitigations are unavailable.

The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.

Which versions are affected?

Affected: >= 5.0.0-RC1, < 5.5.5; >= 4.0.0-RC1, < 4.13.8

Versions by product

Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

What to do

CISA due date for this action: 13 March 2025.

Advisories and patches

The CVE record links no vendor advisory, patch or mitigation.

Linked from CISA's catalog entry

• https://github.com/craftcms/cms/security/advisories/GHSA-x684-96hh-833x
• https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-23209

Affected products and versions

As listed in the CVE record.

Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

About this vulnerability

Craft CMS contains a code injection vulnerability caused by improper validation of the database backup path, ultimately enabling remote code execution.

Summary: CISA's KEV catalog, as of 28 Oct 2026.

• CISA added CVE-2025-23209 to its Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on 20 Feb 2025.
• CISA's ransomware flag for this entry is "Unknown": no evidence of ransomware use in the catalog, which is not proof of none.
• The due date CISA sets for the required action is 13 Mar 2025.
• The CVE record was published on 18 Jan 2025, 33 days before it was added to KEV.
• The CVE record carries a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.1 (High), given by its CNA.
• FIRST's EPSS model puts the probability of exploitation in the next 30 days at 21.6% (percentile 97.6), as of 28 Oct 2026.
• CISA's SSVC assessment in the CVE record: exploitation active, automatable no, technical impact total.

Source: CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog, 2026.10.28, as of 28 Oct 2026; CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026; FIRST Exploit Prediction Scoring System (EPSS), v2026.06.15, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

Description

Potential RCE with a compromised security key in craft/cms

Craft is a flexible, user-friendly CMS for creating custom digital experiences on the web and beyond. This is an remote code execution (RCE) vulnerability that affects Craft 4 and 5 installs where your security key has already been compromised. Anyone running an unpatched version of Craft with a compromised security key is affected. This vulnerability has been patched in Craft 5.5.8 and 4.13.8. Users who cannot update to a patched version, should rotate their security keys and ensure their privacy to help migitgate the issue.

Source: CVE List V5 (CVE Program), cve_2026-10-28_0000Z, as of 28 Oct 2026. About the data.

Weakness

• CWE-94: Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')

CWE and CAPEC are maintained by MITRE; the entries are those named in the CVE record and the KEV entry.

Timeline

References

• https://github.com/craftcms/cms/security/advisories/GHSA-x684-96hh-833x
• https://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/e59e22b30c9dd39e5e2c7fe02c147bcbd004e603
• https://craftcms.com/knowledge-base/securing-craft#keep-your-secrets-secret

More exploited Craft CMS vulnerabilities

• CVE-2025-32432: Craft CMS Code Injection Vulnerability (added 20 Mar 2026)
• CVE-2024-56145: Craft CMS Code Injection Vulnerability (added 2 Jun 2025)
• CVE-2025-35939: Craft CMS External Control of Assumed-Immutable Web Parameter Vulnerability (added 2 Jun 2025)