Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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AccessSend HTTP request with User-Agent: W3 Total Cache
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ExploitBypass output buffering pipeline
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ExecutionExpose mfunc/mclude HTML comments
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ImpactExtract W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY token from page source
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A01:2025 - Broken Access Control
ASVS 5.0
V14 - Data Protection Data exposure prevention
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Collection, Discovery The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Requires W3 Total Cache plugin for WordPress versions up to 2.9.3 installed and enabled. Attacker sends HTTP request with User-Agent header containing 'W3 Total Cache' to any page. No authentication or victim interaction required. Remote unauthenticated exploitation. |
| Impact | Real-world risk is elevated despite the information disclosure classification. The CVSS 7.5 score reflects trivial exploitation (AC:L, PR:N) with high confidentiality impact, and the attack vector is completely remote with no user interaction required. While no public exploit code is confirmed and CISA KEV status is not indicated in available data, the technical simplicity (sending a single HTTP header) combined with widespread W3 Total Cache deployment creates significant exposure. The disclosed W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY token can potentially enable secondary attacks including cache poisoning, authentication bypass, or privilege escalation in fragment rendering logic. SSVC assessment suggests elevated priority: exploitation is trivial and automatable, technical impact allows security control bypass, and the vulnerability affects a popular WordPress plugin with millions of installations. The clear remediation path (patch available) slightly reduces urgency, but the low exploitation complexity and potential for automated scanning makes this a genuine priority for WordPress administrators running fragment caching configurations. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An unauthenticated attacker identifies a WordPress site running W3 Total Cache with fragment caching enabled. The attacker sends HTTP requests to public pages with a modified User-Agent header containing the string 'W3 Total Cache', causing the plugin to bypass output processing and return unprocessed HTML source. By examining the response, the attacker extracts W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY tokens from mfunc/mclude HTML comments that would normally be stripped during rendering. With the security token in hand, the attacker can craft malicious requests to fragment rendering endpoints, potentially bypassing authentication checks, injecting cached content, or triggering server-side code execution through fragment processing vulnerabilities. The attack requires only basic HTTP tools and succeeds against default configurations without any user interaction or elevated privileges. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Apr 02, 2026
W3 Total Cache plugin for WordPress exposes security tokens to unauthenticated remote attackers through User-Agent header manipulation. Versions up to 2.9.3 bypass output buffering when requests contain 'W3 Total Cache' in the User-Agent, leaking W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY tokens embedded in dynamic fragment HTML comments. With CVSS 7.5 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N) indicating trivial exploitation requiring no authentication, attackers can extract these tokens from any page using fragment caching, enabling potential security bypass or escalation attacks. Patch available in version 2.9.4+ per upstream changeset.
RemediationAI
Upgrade W3 Total Cache plugin to version 2.9.4 or later, which addresses the User-Agent bypass vulnerability per the upstream changeset at https://plugins.trac.wordpress.org/changeset/3495959/w3-total-cache. WordPress administrators should access the Plugins dashboard and update through the standard update mechanism. As an interim mitigation for sites unable to immediately patch, disable fragment caching functionality through W3 Total Cache settings (Performance > Fragment Cache) to eliminate token exposure risk, though this reduces caching effectiveness. Web application firewalls can be configured to block requests containing 'W3 Total Cache' in User-Agent headers from non-administrative IP ranges. Comprehensive vulnerability details and affected code analysis available at https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a65eb62d-847b-4f3a-848b-1290e3118c01?source=cve. Post-patching, consider rotating or regenerating W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY constants if prior exposure is suspected.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 1 package in euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
W3 Total Cache is a WordPress performance optimization plugin (CPE: cpe:2.3:a:boldgrid:w3_total_cache) that implements fragment caching through mfunc/mclude dynamic tags and protects these fragments with a W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY constant. The vulnerability (CWE-200: Information Exposure) occurs in the Generic_Plugin.php output buffering logic where the plugin prematurely terminates processing when detecting its own User-Agent string. This implementation flaw causes raw HTML comments containing security tokens to reach the browser unprocessed. The fragment caching feature uses these tokens as authentication mechanisms for rendering dynamic content within cached pages, making token exposure a critical security control failure that undermines the entire dynamic fragment security model.
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Severity by source
AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N
Primary rating from NVD · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorNVD
DescriptionCVE.org
The W3 Total Cache plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to information exposure in all versions up to, and including, 2.9.3. This is due to the plugin bypassing its entire output buffering and processing pipeline when the request's User-Agent header contains "W3 Total Cache", which causes raw mfunc/mclude dynamic fragment HTML comments - including the W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY security token - to be rendered in the page source. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to discover the value of the W3TC_DYNAMIC_SECURITY constant by sending a crafted User-Agent header to any page that contains developer-placed dynamic fragment tags, granted the site has the fragment caching feature enabled.
Executive ViewAI
W3 Total Cache plugin versions up to 2.9.3 expose security tokens to unauthenticated attackers through a User-Agent header bypass, allowing remote extraction of authentication credentials embedded in cached page content. Organizations running affected WordPress instances are at immediate risk of token theft leading to unauthorized access or privilege escalation without requiring authentication or user interaction.
Vendor-released patch: W3 Total Cache version 2.9.4+. If immediate patching is not possible, disable W3 Total Cache fragment caching until upgrade can be completed, or restrict access to WordPress administration and cached content via WAF rules blocking requests containing 'W3 Total Cache' in the User-Agent header.
Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
Information disclosure occurs when an application unintentionally exposes sensitive data that aids attackers in reconnaissance or directly compromises security.
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EUVD-2026-18136
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
GitHub PoC
Exploit-DB