CVE-2021-36916

Hide My WP <= 6.2.3 - SQL Injection

2021-11-24 00:00
Dave Jong

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 6.2.4
Affected Plugin
Hide My WP - Amazing Security Plugin for WordPress!
Affected Version
<= 6.2.3
CVSS
8.6High
Weakness type
CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE
CVE-2021-36916
View all Hide My WP - Amazing Security Plugin for WordPress! vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-36916 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Hide My WP - Amazing Security Plugin for WordPress! WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 6.2.3. It carries a CVSS score of 8.6 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high integrity impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 6.2.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2021, reported by Dave Jong.

Vulnerability Overview

The SQL injection vulnerability in the Hide My WP WordPress plugin (versions <= 6.2.3) is possible because of how the IP address is retrieved and used inside a SQL query. The function "hmwp_get_user_ip" tries to retrieve the IP address from multiple headers, including IP address headers that the user can spoof, such as "X-Forwarded-For." As a result, the malicious payload supplied in one of these IP address headers will be directly inserted into the SQL query, making SQL injection possible.

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 integrity.

CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')

Hide My WP - Amazing Security Plugin for WordPress! <= 6.2.3 carries this weakness at hmwp_get_user_ip, 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 Hide My WP - Amazing Security Plugin for WordPress! the fix is 6.2.4: builds <= 6.2.3 are affected, anything from 6.2.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 6.2.4, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Hide My WP - Amazing Security Plugin for WordPress!: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Hide My WP - Amazing Security Plugin for WordPress! 6.2.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-36916https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/04383919-dae0-4865-b0ff-88049f8cd4dbhttps://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-36916

Related records

Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C