Events Made Easy <= 2.3.17 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) SQL Injection via 'search_name'
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 2.3.18
- Affected Plugin
- Events Made Easy
- Affected Version
<= 2.3.17- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2023-28660
At a glance
CVE-2023-28660 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Events Made Easy WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 2.3.17. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. The issue is fixed in version 2.3.18; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed March 2023, reported by Joshua Martinelle.
Vulnerability Overview
The Events Made Easy plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to a time-based SQL Injection via the 'search_name' parameter of the eme_recurrences_list AJAX action in versions up to, and including, 2.3.17 due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for authenticated attackers, with subscriber-level permissions and above, 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 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')
Events Made Easy <= 2.3.17 carries this weakness at search_name, and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber 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. For Events Made Easy the fix is 2.3.18: builds <= 2.3.17 are affected, anything from 2.3.18 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 2.3.18, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Subscriber 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. None of that substitutes for the fix: Events Made Easy 2.3.18 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Events Made Easy
- 8.8Events Made Easy < 1.5.50 CSRF to Stored Cross-Site Scripting
- 7.5CVE-2026-75963: Events Made Easy <= 3.2.5 Local File Inclusion
CVE-2026-75963 - 7.2CVE-2026-28162: Events Made Easy <= 3.2.5 Stored Cross-Site Scripting
CVE-2026-28162 - 6.1Events Made Easy <= 1.6.20 Stored Cross-Site Scripting
- 5.5CVE-2021-24813: Events Made Easy <= 2.2.23 Admin+ Stored XSS
CVE-2021-24813 - 5.4CVE-2026-107649: Events Made Easy <= 3.2.22 Stored XSS
CVE-2026-107649 - 5.4CVE-2023-0404: Events Made Easy <= 2.3.16 Missing Authorization
CVE-2023-0404 - 5.3CVE-2026-59557: Events Made Easy <= 3.1.3 Missing Authorization
CVE-2026-59557
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