CVE-2007-4894

WordPress Core < 2.2.3 & WordPress MU < 1.2.5a - SQL Injection

2007-09-08 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 1.2.5
Affected Core: WordPress 1.2
Affected Version: < 1.2.5
CVSS: 9.8Critical
Weakness type: CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE: CVE-2007-4894

At a glance

CVE-2007-4894 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the WordPress 1.2 WordPress release line, affecting < 1.2.5. It carries a CVSS score of 9.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 1.2.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2007.

Vulnerability Overview

Multiple SQL injection vulnerabilities in Wordpress before 2.2.3 and Wordpress multi-user (MU) before 1.2.5a allow remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the post_type parameter to the pingback.extensions.getPingbacks method in the XMLRPC interface, and other unspecified parameters related to "early database escaping" and missing validation of "query string like parameters."

Technical Analysis

The vector marks this flaw as remotely reachable over the network, with low attack complexity — no special timing or configuration is needed, and no privileges on the target site, and no interaction from a victim user. A successful exploit has high impact on confidentiality, integrity, availability — full site compromise territory.

CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')

Reaching this weakness in WordPress 1.2 < 1.2.5 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. SQL injection happens when request data is concatenated into a query instead of being bound as a parameter, letting an attacker change the structure of the statement rather than just its values.

A working injection can read any table the database user can see, which on a WordPress install means user records, password hashes and session or API secrets stored in options. For WordPress 1.2 the fix is 1.2.5: builds < 1.2.5 are affected, anything from 1.2.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.2.5, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WordPress 1.2: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: updating to 1.2.5 is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2007-4894 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a5c290a1-b58a-4b5c-8112-076d5b17d940 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2007-4894

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 1.2

CVSS Vector

9.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredNone
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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