Most Popular Posts Widget <= 0.8 - Authenticated (Admin+) SQL Injection
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 0.9
- Affected Plugin
- Most Popular Posts Widget
- Affected Version
<= 0.8- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2015-10124
At a glance
CVE-2015-10124 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Most Popular Posts Widget WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 0.8. 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 Admin level or above. The issue is fixed in version 0.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed February 2015.
Vulnerability Overview
The Most Popular Posts Widget plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to SQL Injection via the 'PostID' variable in versions up to, and including, 0.8 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 administrator-level access 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')
Most Popular Posts Widget <= 0.8 carries this weakness at PostID, and reaching it takes an account at Admin 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 Most Popular Posts Widget the fix is 0.9: builds <= 0.8 are affected, anything from 0.9 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 0.9, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Admin 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: Most Popular Posts Widget 0.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C