CVE-2017-14723

WordPress Core < 4.8.2 - SQL Injection via Mishandled Placeholders

2017-09-19 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 3.7.22
Affected Core: WordPress 4.8
Affected Version: 3.7 – 4.8.1 · 13 branches
CVSS: 9.8Critical
Weakness type: CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE: CVE-2017-14723

At a glance

CVE-2017-14723 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the WordPress 4.8 WordPress release line, affecting 3.7 – 4.8.1 · 13 branches. 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 3.7.22; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2017, reported by Slavco Mihajloski.

Vulnerability Overview

Before version 4.8.2, WordPress mishandled % characters and additional placeholder values in $wpdb->prepare, and thus did not properly address the possibility of plugins and themes enabling SQL injection attacks.

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 4.8 3.7 – 4.8.1 · 13 branches 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 4.8 the fix is 3.7.22: builds 3.7 – 4.8.1 · 13 branches are affected, anything from 3.7.22 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to one of the following versions, or a newer patched version: 3.7.22, 3.8.22, 3.9.20, 4.0.19, 4.1.19, 4.2.16, 4.3.12, 4.4.11, 4.5.10, 4.6.7, 4.7.6, 4.8.2

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WordPress 4.8: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: updating to 3.7.22 is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-14723 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6b558818-f459-4bc1-893c-8c1c7bf9d6d2 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-14723

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WordPress 4.8

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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