CVE-2020-5579

Paid Memberships Pro < 2.3.3 - Authenticated SQL Injection

2020-05-19 00:00

Kenichi Okuno (Mitsui Bussan Secure Directions)

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 2.3.3
Affected Plugin: Paid Memberships Pro – Content Restriction, User Registration, & Paid Subscriptions
Affected Version: < 2.3.3
CVSS: 4.7Medium
Weakness type: CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE: CVE-2020-5579

View all Paid Memberships Pro – Content Restriction, User Registration, & Paid Subscriptions vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2020-5579 is a medium-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Paid Memberships Pro WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 2.3.3. It carries a CVSS score of 4.7 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity). Exploitation requires an authenticated account. The issue is fixed in version 2.3.3; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2020, reported by Kenichi Okuno (Mitsui Bussan Secure Directions).

Vulnerability Overview

SQL injection vulnerability in the Paid Memberships versions prior to 2.3.3 allows attacker with administrator rights to execute arbitrary SQL commands via unspecified vectors. The 'discount_code_id' found in the ~/adminpages/orders.php is the specific parameter that is vulnerable.

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')

Paid Memberships Pro < 2.3.3 carries this weakness at discount_code_id, and reaching it 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 Paid Memberships Pro the fix is 2.3.3: builds < 2.3.3 are affected, anything from 2.3.3 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 2.3.3, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to Paid Memberships Pro: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Paid Memberships Pro 2.3.3 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2020-5579 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/b1791d41-cdfe-4918-8351-2108302241c1 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2020-5579

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in Paid Memberships Pro – Content Restriction, User Registration, & Paid Subscriptions

CVSS Vector

4.7

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

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredHigh
User InteractionNone
ScopeUnchanged
ConfidentialityLow
IntegrityLow
AvailabilityLow

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