CVE-2012-2109

BuddyPress - 1.5-1.5.4 - SQL Injection

2012-03-27 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 1.5.5
Affected Plugin: BuddyPress
Affected Version: 1.5 – 1.5.4
CVSS: 9.8Critical
Weakness type: CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE: CVE-2012-2109

At a glance

CVE-2012-2109 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the BuddyPress WordPress plugin, affecting versions 1.5 – 1.5.4. 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 1.5.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2012, reported by Ivan Terkin.

Vulnerability Overview

SQL injection vulnerability in wp-load.php in the BuddyPress plugin 1.5.x before 1.5.5 of WordPress allows remote attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the page parameter in an activity_widget_filter action.

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 BuddyPress 1.5 – 1.5.4 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 BuddyPress the fix is 1.5.5: builds 1.5 – 1.5.4 are affected, anything from 1.5.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.5.5, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to BuddyPress: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: BuddyPress 1.5.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2012-2109 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/1a4cc739-0563-4ca2-931d-818a0c285257 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2012-2109

Related records

Same weakness class

9.8BuddyPress <= 9.0.0 SQL Injection

Other vulnerabilities in BuddyPress

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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