CVE-2021-24149

Modern Events Calendar Lite <= 5.16.5 - Authenticated SQL Injection

2021-01-29 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 5.16.6
Affected Plugin: Modern Events Calendar Lite
Affected Version: <= 5.16.5
CVSS: 8.8High
Weakness type: CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE: CVE-2021-24149

View all Modern Events Calendar Lite vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2021-24149 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Modern Events Calendar Lite WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 5.16.5. 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. The issue is fixed in version 5.16.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed January 2021, reported by Nguyen Van Khanh.

Vulnerability Overview

Unvalidated input in the Modern Events Calendar Lite WordPress plugin, versions before 5.16.6, did not sanitise the mec[post_id] POST parameter in the mec_fes_form AJAX action when logged in as an author+, leading to an authenticated SQL Injection issue.

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')

Reaching this weakness in Modern Events Calendar Lite <= 5.16.5 takes any authenticated account. 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 Modern Events Calendar Lite the fix is 5.16.6: builds <= 5.16.5 are affected, anything from 5.16.6 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 5.16.6, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Modern Events Calendar Lite: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Modern Events Calendar Lite 5.16.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24149 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b4ff715e-056e-48d8-bb82-d4f89047384f https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24149

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in Modern Events Calendar Lite

CVSS Vector

8.8

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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