Cyber Resilience

CVE-2025-68857

Critical

Published: 22 January 2026

Published
22 January 2026
Modified
15 April 2026
KEV Added
—
Patch
—
CVSS Score v3.1 9.3 CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:L
EPSS Score 0.0028 19.9th percentile
Risk Priority 70 floored blend · peak EPSS

Summary

CVE-2025-68857 is a critical-severity SQL Injection (CWE-89) vulnerability. Its CVSS base score is 9.3 (Critical).

Operationally, exploitation aligns with the MITRE ATT&CK technique Exploit Public-Facing Application (T1190); ranked at the 19.9th percentile by exploit likelihood (below the median); it is not currently listed in the CISA KEV catalog.

The strongest mitigations our analysis identified are NIST 800-53 SI-10 (Information Input Validation) and SI-2 (Flaw Remediation).

Deeper analysis

CVE-2025-68857 is an Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability that enables Blind SQL Injection in the ichurakov Paid Downloads WordPress plugin (paid-downloads). This issue affects all versions from n/a through 3.15 and is associated with CWE-89.

The vulnerability has a CVSS v3.1 base score of 9.3 (AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:L), indicating it can be exploited remotely over the network by unauthenticated attackers with low attack complexity and no user interaction required. Successful exploitation allows high confidentiality impact through data exfiltration via blind SQL injection techniques, with low availability impact and a changed scope.

Mitigation details are available in the Patchstack advisory at https://patchstack.com/database/Wordpress/Plugin/paid-downloads/vulnerability/wordpress-paid-downloads-plugin-3-15-sql-injection-vulnerability?_s_id=cve. The CVE was published on 2026-01-22T17:16:11.650.

OWASP Top 10 for Web (2025)

A05:2025 Injection

EU & UK References

Vulnerability details

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in ichurakov Paid Downloads paid-downloads allows Blind SQL Injection.This issue affects Paid Downloads: from n/a through <= 3.15.

CWE(s)
CWE-89

Related Threats

MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise TechniquesAI

T1190 Exploit Public-Facing Application Initial Access
Adversaries may attempt to exploit a weakness in an Internet-facing host or system to initially access a network.
attack.mitre.org →
Why these techniques?

Direct SQL injection in public-facing WordPress plugin enables remote exploitation of the web application (T1190).

Confidence: HIGH · MITRE ATT&CK Enterprise v19.0

CVEs Like This One

CVE-2026-24956Shared CWE-89
CVE-2026-33615Shared CWE-89
CVE-2025-28939Shared CWE-89
CVE-2021-47872Shared CWE-89
CVE-2025-28873Shared CWE-89
CVE-2019-25636Shared CWE-89
CVE-2026-32611Shared CWE-89
CVE-2026-42755Shared CWE-89
CVE-2024-53544Shared CWE-89
CVE-2026-21410Shared CWE-89

Affected Assets

Mitigating Controls

Mitigating Controls (NIST 800-53 r5) AI

SI-10 Information Input Validation good match
prevent

Information Input Validation directly mitigates SQL injection by requiring checks and neutralization of special elements in user inputs to the Paid Downloads plugin.

SI-2 Flaw Remediation good match
prevent

Flaw Remediation ensures timely patching of the vulnerable Paid Downloads plugin versions up to 3.15, eliminating the blind SQL injection vulnerability.

SC-7 Boundary Protection partial match
prevent

Boundary Protection implements web application firewalls or similar mechanisms at system interfaces to detect and block SQL injection payloads targeting the vulnerability.

References