CVE-2025-13035

Code Snippets <= 3.9.1 - Authenticated (Contributor+) PHP Code Injection via extract() and PHP Filter Chains

2025-11-18 19:03
mikemyers

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 3.9.2
Affected Plugin
Code Snippets
Affected Version
<= 3.9.1
CVSS
8.0High
Weakness type
CWE-94 · Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection')
CVE
CVE-2025-13035
View all Code Snippets vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2025-13035 is a high-severity Improper Control of Generation of Code ('Code Injection') vulnerability in the Code Snippets WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.9.1. It carries a CVSS score of 8.0 (reachable over the network; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.9.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2025, reported by mikemyers.

Vulnerability Overview

The Code Snippets plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to PHP Code Injection in all versions up to, and including, 3.9.1. This is due to the plugin's use of extract() on attacker-controlled shortcode attributes within the `evaluate_shortcode_from_flat_file` method, which can be used to overwrite the `$filepath` variable and subsequently passed to require_once. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above, to execute arbitrary PHP code on the server via the `[code_snippet]` shortcode using PHP filter chains granted they can trick an administrator into enabling the "Enable file-based execution" setting and creating at least one active Content snippet.

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

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

Code Snippets <= 3.9.1 carries this weakness at extract(), and reaching it takes an account at Contributor level or above. Code injection means input from a request reaches a language construct that evaluates code, so the attacker's text is executed rather than treated as data.

The injected code runs with the web server's privileges, giving the attacker the same access to the database and filesystem as WordPress itself. For Code Snippets the fix is 3.9.2: builds <= 3.9.1 are affected, anything from 3.9.2 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 3.9.2, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

An attacker needs Contributor access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. Classes like this one can leave something behind, so the staged malware scanner is the second half: it looks for dropped files and modified code rather than for the request that created them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Code Snippets 3.9.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Scanner
  • Alerts

External References

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C