CVE-2025-15463
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 · uneditedThe The Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to arbitrary shortcode execution in all versions up to, and including, 0.9.2.3. This is due to the software allowing users to execute an action that does not properly validate a value before running do_shortcode. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.
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 confidenceThe Advanced Custom Fields: Extended WordPress plugin (versions up to 0.9.2.3) contains an arbitrary shortcode execution vulnerability. The plugin fails to properly validate user-supplied input before passing it to WordPress's do_shortcode() function, allowing unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary shortcodes.
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
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- Low
- Integrity
- Low
- Availability
- None
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:L/I:L/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 checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Confirm plugin installation and versionNavigate to WordPress Admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate 'Advanced Custom Fields: Extended', or run 'wp plugin list' via WP-CLI, or check the plugin main file header for the Version commentAffected if The plugin is installed and the version is 0.9.2.3 or earlier (any version up to and including 0.9.2.3)
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Identify vulnerable code patternReview the plugin files for direct calls to do_shortcode() with unvalidated user input (commonly found in frontend rendering files or AJAX handlers). Search the plugin directory for 'do_shortcode' usage without preceding sanitization functions like sanitize_text_field or wp_ksesAffected if The plugin code contains do_shortcode() calls that process raw user input without proper validation
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Check for exploitation indicators in contentSearch the WordPress database (via WP-CLI: 'wp db query "SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_content LIKE '%[%'"' or phpMyAdmin) for suspicious shortcode entries in posts, pages, or custom post types that were not intentionally created by administratorsAffected if Database contains unexpected or unauthorized shortcode entries, especially in post_content fields
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Review access logs for exploitation attemptsExamine web server access logs (Apache, Nginx) for requests containing shortcode patterns, such as URLs with '[', ']', or known malicious shortcodes like '[shortcode attribute=" malicious"]'
The environment is affected if the Advanced Custom Fields: Extended plugin is installed with version 0.9.2.3 or earlier, and the plugin code processes unsanitized user input through do_shortcode().
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
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.
dbcve · scopedUpgrade to version 0.9.2.4 or later. If unable to upgrade immediately, consider disabling the plugin or implementing web application firewall rules to block requests attempting to exploit shortcode execution.
latest version available on wordpress.org (newer than 0.9.2.3)
- Navigate to the WordPress admin dashboard
- Go to Plugins > Installed Plugins
- Locate 'Advanced Custom Fields: Extended'
- Check if the installed version is 0.9.2.3 or earlier
- If vulnerable, click 'Update Now' to install the latest version
- Alternatively, download the latest version from wordpress.org/plugins/advanced-custom-fields-extended/ and upload manually
- Verify the update was successful by checking the plugin version after updating
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
- Consultation2.0 h
- Implementation3.0 h
- Testing2.0 h
- Review / QA2.0 h
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Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2025-15463 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2025-15463 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- 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