CVE-2023-50838

NEX-Forms – Ultimate Form Builder – Contact forms and much more <= 8.5.5 - Authenticated (Admin+) SQL Injection

2023-12-21 00:00
Abu Hurayra (HurayraIIT)

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 8.5.6
Affected Plugin
NEX-Forms – Ultimate Forms Plugin for WordPress
Affected Version
<= 8.5.5
CVSS
5.5Medium
Weakness type
CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE
CVE-2023-50838
View all NEX-Forms – Ultimate Forms Plugin for WordPress vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2023-50838 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the NEX-Forms WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 8.5.5. It carries a CVSS score of 5.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Admin level or above. The issue is fixed in version 8.5.6; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed December 2023, reported by Abu Hurayra (HurayraIIT).

Vulnerability Overview

The NEX-Forms – Ultimate Form Builder – Contact forms and much more plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to SQL Injection via an unknown parameter in all versions up to 8.5.6 (exclusive) 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.

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

Reaching this weakness in NEX-Forms <= 8.5.5 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 NEX-Forms the fix is 8.5.6: builds <= 8.5.5 are affected, anything from 8.5.6 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 8.5.6, 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: NEX-Forms 8.5.6 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2023-50838https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/6b5964a7-410b-4fea-9de2-22ffda80c8e8https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2023-50838

Related records

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