CVE-2025-9198: WP Cycle Text Announcement SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2025-9198 Overview

CVE-2025-9198 is a SQL injection vulnerability [CWE-89] in the WP Cycle Text Announcement plugin for WordPress. The flaw affects all versions up to and including 8.1. It resides in the cycle-text shortcode handler, which fails to properly escape user-supplied input and does not use prepared statements for its SQL query. Authenticated users with Contributor-level access or higher can append additional SQL queries to the existing query, enabling extraction of sensitive data from the WordPress database.

Critical Impact
Authenticated attackers with Contributor privileges can execute arbitrary SQL queries through the cycle-text shortcode, exposing database contents including user credentials and session data.

Affected Products

WP Cycle Text Announcement plugin for WordPress — all versions through 8.1
WordPress sites that allow Contributor-level user registration
WordPress installations using the cycle-text shortcode

Discovery Timeline

2025-10-03 - CVE-2025-9198 published to NVD
2026-10-11 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-9198

Vulnerability Analysis

The vulnerability stems from the plugin's handling of the cycle-text shortcode. Shortcode attributes supplied by a user are concatenated directly into a SQL query without escaping or parameterization. Any authenticated user able to submit post or page content containing shortcodes can abuse this behavior.

In WordPress, Contributor-level accounts can create draft posts and preview their rendered output. This privilege level is sufficient to trigger the shortcode and execute injected SQL. The attack does not require administrator access or user interaction beyond the authenticated session.

Successful exploitation grants read access to arbitrary database tables. Attackers can extract WordPress user hashes from wp_users, session tokens from wp_usermeta, and secret keys stored by other plugins. The confidentiality impact is high while integrity and availability remain unaffected.

Root Cause

The root cause is insufficient input sanitization combined with the absence of a prepared statement. The plugin passes shortcode attributes into a raw query string instead of using $wpdb->prepare() with placeholders. Reference the WordPress Plugin Source Code at line 129 for the vulnerable query construction.

Attack Vector

An authenticated Contributor crafts a post or page containing the cycle-text shortcode with a malicious attribute value. When the shortcode is processed, the attacker-controlled string is appended to the backend SQL query. Using standard UNION-based or stacked query techniques, the attacker exfiltrates data through the rendered response. Full technical details are available in the Wordfence Vulnerability Advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-9198

Indicators of Compromise

Draft or published posts containing [cycle-text] shortcodes with unusual attribute values such as SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, SLEEP).
Unexpected database query errors in PHP or MySQL logs correlated with page rendering.
Contributor accounts creating or modifying posts outside normal editorial patterns.
Anomalous response sizes or latency when rendering posts that invoke the shortcode.

Detection Strategies

Review WordPress post content for the cycle-text shortcode containing SQL metacharacters such as single quotes, double dashes, or UNION clauses.
Enable MySQL general query logging on staging environments to identify malformed or suspicious queries originating from the plugin.
Audit the WordPress wp_posts table for Contributor-authored drafts referencing the vulnerable shortcode.

Monitoring Recommendations

Monitor web application firewall (WAF) logs for SQL injection patterns targeting WordPress shortcode rendering endpoints.
Track Contributor account creation and post submission activity for behavioral anomalies.
Alert on database errors containing wp_cycle_text_announcement or related table references.

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-9198

Immediate Actions Required

Deactivate and remove the WP Cycle Text Announcement plugin from all WordPress installations until a patched version is confirmed.
Audit Contributor and higher-privileged accounts; disable or remove any accounts that are unused or suspicious.
Rotate WordPress salts in wp-config.php and reset passwords for all users if exploitation is suspected.
Review database access logs for queries indicating prior exploitation.

Patch Information

No patched version of the plugin has been published at the time of the NVD entry. Monitor the Wordfence Vulnerability Advisory and the WordPress plugin repository for an update beyond version 8.1.

Workarounds

Restrict Contributor registration by disabling open user registration under WordPress General Settings.
Deploy a WAF rule that blocks requests containing SQL metacharacters in shortcode attributes.
Remove the plugin files from wp-content/plugins/wp-cycle-text-announcement/ until an official patch is released.
Limit shortcode processing to Editor or Administrator roles using custom capability checks.

bash

# Disable the vulnerable plugin via WP-CLI
wp plugin deactivate wp-cycle-text-announcement
wp plugin delete wp-cycle-text-announcement

# Disable open user registration
wp option update users_can_register 0