Broken Link Manager <= 0.6.5 - Authenticated (Admin+) SQL Injection
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- Broken Link Manager
- Affected Version
<= 0.6.5- CVSS
- 7.2High
- Weakness type
- CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2021-24550
At a glance
CVE-2021-24550 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Broken Link Manager WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 0.6.5. It carries a CVSS score of 7.2 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Admin level or above. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed July 2021, reported by Shreya Pohekar.
Vulnerability Overview
The Broken Link Manager WordPress plugin through 0.6.5 does not sanitise, validate or escape the url GET parameter before using it in a SQL statement when retrieving an URL to edit, leading to an authenticated 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 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 Broken Link Manager <= 0.6.5 takes an account at Admin level or above. 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. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for Broken Link Manager yet, so installs running <= 0.6.5 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Admin access first, so the firewall sees the attempt as traffic from a logged-in account: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
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