CVE-2014-9309

Formidable Form Builder <= 1.07.11 - SQL Injection

2016-01-26 00:00
Kacper Szurek

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 2.0
Affected Plugin
Formidable Forms – WordPress Form Builder for Contact Forms, Calculators, Quizzes & More
Affected Version
<= 1.07.11
CVSS
8.8High
Weakness type
CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE
CVE-2014-9309
View all Formidable Forms – WordPress Form Builder for Contact Forms, Calculators, Quizzes & More vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2014-9309 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Formidable Forms WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.07.11. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The issue is fixed in version 2.0; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2016, reported by Kacper Szurek.

Vulnerability Overview

The Formidable Form Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to blind SQL Injection via the ‘orderby’ parameter in versions up to, and including, 1.07.11 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')

Formidable Forms <= 1.07.11 carries this weakness at orderby, and reaching it 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 Formidable Forms the fix is 2.0: builds <= 1.07.11 are affected, anything from 2.0 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.0, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Formidable Forms: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Formidable Forms 2.0 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-9309https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/d97b6f64-a596-4c83-8ab5-98b4b246897fhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-9309

Related records

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