CVE-2025-68454
Craftcms Craft Cms 4.0.0.1 – 4.16.17
Raw vector
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:P/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N/E:U/CR:X/IR:X/AR:X/MAV:X/MAC:X/MAT:X/MPR:X/MUI:X/MVC:X/MVI:X/MVA:X/MSC:X/MSI:X/MSA:X/S:X/AU:X/R:X/V:X/RE:X/U:XSummary
CVE-2025-68454 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements Used in a Template Engine (CWE-1336) vulnerability in Craftcms Craft Cms. Its CVSS base score is 5.2 (Medium).
Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Template Injection (T1221); ranked in the top 46% of CVEs by exploit likelihood; it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog; a public proof-of-concept is referenced.
The strongest mitigations our analysis identified map to SA-11 (Developer Testing and Evaluation) and SI-10 (Information Input Validation) — see the control section below for these in your framework.
Deeper analysis AI-assisted summary
Synthesised by an AI model from the NVD description and linked references — a reading aid, not an authoritative source.
CVE-2025-68454 affects Craft CMS, a platform for creating digital experiences, in versions 5.0.0-RC1 through 5.8.20 and 4.0.0-RC1 through 4.16.16. The vulnerability enables potential authenticated remote code execution (RCE) through server-side template injection (SSTI) in the Twig templating engine, classified under CWE-1336 with a CVSS v3.1 base score of 8.8 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H).
Exploitation requires an authenticated attacker with administrator access to the Craft Control Panel where the allowAdminChanges setting is enabled, though this is against Craft CMS recommendations for non-development environments. Alternatively, a non-administrator account with access to the System Messages utility suffices. Attackers can craft a malicious payload leveraging the Twig `map` filter within text fields that accept Twig input, such as those under Settings in the control panel or the System Messages utility, resulting in RCE.
Craft CMS advisories recommend updating to the patched releases—version 5.8.21 for the 5.x series and 4.16.17 for the 4.x series—to mitigate the issue. Details are available in the project's changelog at https://github.com/craftcms/cms/blob/5.x/CHANGELOG.md#5821---2025-12-04, the fixing commit at https://github.com/craftcms/cms/commit/d82680f4a05f9576883bb83c3f6243d33ca73ebe, and the GitHub security advisory at https://github.com/craftcms/cms/security/advisories/GHSA-742x-x762-7383.
EU & UK References
- 🇪🇺 ENISA EUVD: EUVD-2026-0844
Vulnerability Data
Craft is a platform for creating digital experiences. Versions 5.0.0-RC1 through 5.8.20 and 4.0.0-RC1 through 4.16.16 are vulnerable to potential authenticated Remote Code Execution via Twig SSTI. For this to work, users must have administrator access to the Craft Control…
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Panel, and allowAdminChanges must be enabled, which is against Craft CMS' recommendations for any non-dev environment. Alternatively, a non-administrator account with allowAdminChanges disabled can be used, provided access to the System Messages utility is available. It is possible to craft a malicious payload using the Twig `map` filter in text fields that accept Twig input under Settings in the Craft control panel or using the System Messages utility, which could lead to a RCE. Users should update to the patched versions (5.8.21 and 4.16.17) to mitigate the issue.
- CWE(s)
Related Threats
MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise Techniques
CVEs Like This One
Affected Assets
Mitigating Controls
Control response
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V1.3.2V1.3.7V1.3.10
Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI
Developer testing and static analysis can discover missing neutralization of template directives.
Input validation rejects or sanitizes untrusted data before it reaches the template engine, stopping injection of special syntax.
Security engineering principles require use of safe templating APIs and proper escaping of external input.
Mitigating Controls (NIST CSF 2.0) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→CSF cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Secure SDLC practices directly require proper input neutralization in template engines to prevent injection.
Mitigating Controls (ISO/IEC 27001:2022 Annex A) AI
Derived directly from the weakness types (CWEs) cited in the NVD entry via our AI-authored CWE→ISO cross-walk (authority under review) — links open the control.
Security testing can detect template-injection flaws but does not itself implement neutralization controls.
Secure development life cycle mandates input validation and sanitization that directly prevents template-injection weaknesses.
Application security requirements explicitly call for neutralizing special elements in template engines.
Secure architecture principles reduce the likelihood of unsafe template processing but do not prescribe specific neutralization techniques.
Secure coding standards require proper escaping or sandboxing of template directives, directly mitigating CWE-1336.