dbcve.org
SQL InjectionWeakness · CWE-89

CVE-2025-13922

MEDIUM · 6.5 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-12-06
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
71/100
Remediation priority · Elevated
Remotely reachable Zero-click

Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.

NVD · unedited
The Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – AI Autotagger with OpenAI plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to time-based blind SQL Injection via the 'existing_terms_orderby' parameter in the AI preview AJAX endpoint in all versions up to, and including, 3.40.1. This is due to insufficient escaping on user-supplied parameters and lack of SQL query parameterization. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with Contributor-level access and above who have AI metabox permissions, to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database, cause performance degradation, or enable data inference through time-based techniques.

Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.

dbcve analysis · high confidence

The Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – AI Autotagger plugin for WordPress contains a time-based blind SQL injection vulnerability in the AI preview AJAX endpoint. The 'existing_terms_orderby' parameter is not properly escaped and the query lacks parameterization, allowing authenticated users with Contributor-level access and AI metabox permissions to inject malicious SQL queries.

MitigationUpdate the plugin to version 3.40.2 or later which contains the security patch. Until the update is applied, limit AI metabox permissions to only trusted administrators to reduce the attack surface.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.

From the vector
Attack vector
Network
Complexity
Low
Privileges
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
None

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N

Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.

dbcve checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Verify the AI Autotagger plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager - AI Autotagger' or check the plugins directory for the autotagger folder
    Affected if The plugin is present and active in the WordPress installation
  2. Check the installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins, find the AI Autotagger plugin, and note the version number displayed
    Affected if The installed version is lower than 3.40.2 (versions prior to 3.40.2 contain the vulnerability)
  3. Confirm AI metabox permissions are enabled
    Navigate to the plugin settings (usually under Posts > AI Autotagger or Settings > AI Autotagger) and check if the AI metabox feature is enabled for use on posts/pages
    Affected if The AI metabox feature is enabled, allowing the vulnerable AJAX endpoint to be accessible
  4. Verify user role permissions include Contributor-level access with AI metabox access
    In WordPress admin under Users > Roles or the plugin's permission settings, check which roles have the AI metabox capability enabled. The vulnerability requires a user with Contributor (or higher) role that also has AI metabox permissions
    Affected if Users with Contributor, Author, or Editor roles have AI metabox permissions granted, making the attack surface active

Your environment is affected if the AI Autotagger plugin is installed with a version lower than 3.40.2, the AI metabox is enabled, and non-admin users (Contributor or above) have AI metabox permissions.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Update the plugin to version 3.40.2 or later which contains the security patch. Until the update is applied, limit AI metabox permissions to only trusted administrators to reduce the attack surface.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation1.0 h
  • Implementation1.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
5.0 hours of engineering $860
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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-13922 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
  • Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
  • No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data