Newsletters <= 4.9.9.8 - Authenticated (Contributor+) SQL Injection orderby Parameter
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 4.9.9.9
- Affected Plugin
- Newsletters
- Affected Version
<= 4.9.9.8- CVSS
- 6.5Medium
- Weakness type
- CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2025-3107
At a glance
CVE-2025-3107 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Newsletters WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.9.9.8. It carries a CVSS score of 6.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Contributor level or above. The issue is fixed in version 4.9.9.9; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2025, reported by Peter Thaleikis.
Vulnerability Overview
The Newsletters plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to time-based SQL Injection via the ‘orderby' parameter in all versions up to, and including, 4.9.9.8 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 Contributor-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.
CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
Newsletters <= 4.9.9.8 carries this weakness at orderby, and reaching it takes an account at Contributor 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 Newsletters the fix is 4.9.9.9: builds <= 4.9.9.8 are affected, anything from 4.9.9.9 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 4.9.9.9, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Contributor 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: Newsletters 4.9.9.9 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in Newsletters
- 9.8CVE-2018-20987: Newsletters <= 4.6.8.5 Object Injection
CVE-2018-20987 - 9.1CVE-2024-32954: Newsletters <= 4.9.5 Arbitrary File Upload
CVE-2024-32954 - 8.8CVE-2024-8247: Newsletters <= 4.9.9.2 Privilege Escalation
CVE-2024-8247 - 8.8CVE-2019-14788: Newsletters <= 4.6.18 Directory Traversal
CVE-2019-14788 - 8.1CVE-2026-16267: Newsletters <= 4.15 PHP Object Injection
CVE-2026-16267 - 8.1CVE-2026-12583: Newsletters <= 4.14 PHP Object Injection
CVE-2026-12583 - 8.1CVE-2025-67911: Newsletters <= 4.11 PHP Object Injection
CVE-2025-67911 - 8.1CVE-2025-54034: Newsletters <= 4.10 Local File Inclusion
CVE-2025-54034
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