CVE-2021-24827

Asgaros Forum <= 1.15.12 - Unauthenticated SQL Injection

2021-10-11 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 1.15.13
Affected Plugin: Asgaros Forum
Affected Version: <= 1.15.12
CVSS: 9.8Critical
Weakness type: CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE: CVE-2021-24827

At a glance

CVE-2021-24827 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Asgaros Forum WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.15.12. 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 1.15.13; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2021, reported by ZhongFu Su.

Vulnerability Overview

The Asgaros Forum WordPress plugin before 1.15.13 does not validate and escape user input when subscribing to a topic before using it in a SQL statement, leading to an unauthenticated SQL injection issue

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 Asgaros Forum <= 1.15.12 takes no account at all. 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 Asgaros Forum the fix is 1.15.13: builds <= 1.15.12 are affected, anything from 1.15.13 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.15.13, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Asgaros Forum 1.15.13 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Login Security
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24827 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/0eae9c5a-8a11-4293-a7e1-2c5d77c75284 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24827

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in Asgaros Forum

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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