Burst Statistics – Privacy-Friendly Analytics for WordPress 1.4.0 to 1.4.6.1 - Unauthenticated SQL Injection
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 1.5.0
- Affected Version
1.4.0 – 1.4.6.1- CVSS
- 9.8Critical
- Weakness type
- CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2023-5761
At a glance
CVE-2023-5761 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Burst Statistics WordPress plugin, affecting versions 1.4.0 – 1.4.6.1. 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 1.5.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2023, reported by German Ritter.
Vulnerability Overview
The Burst Statistics – Privacy-Friendly Analytics for WordPress plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to SQL Injection via the 'url' parameter in versions 1.4.0 to 1.4.6.1 (free) and versions 1.4.0 to 1.5.0 (pro) due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries that can be used to extract sensitive information from the database.
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')
Burst Statistics 1.4.0 – 1.4.6.1 carries this weakness at url, and reaching it 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 Burst Statistics the fix is 1.5.0: builds 1.4.0 – 1.4.6.1 are affected, anything from 1.5.0 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 1.5.0, 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: Burst Statistics 1.5.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Login Security
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Burst Statistics – Simple WordPress Analytics (Google Analytics Alternative)
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