CVE-2025-4396

Relevanssi <= 4.24.4 (Free) and <= 2.27.5 (Premium) - Unauthenticated SQL Injection

2025-05-12 14:38
Jack Taylor

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 4.24.5
Affected Plugin
Relevanssi – A Better Search
Affected Version
<= 4.24.4
CVSS
7.5High
Weakness type
CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE
CVE-2025-4396
View all Relevanssi – A Better Search vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2025-4396 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Relevanssi WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.24.4. It carries a CVSS score of 7.5 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality impact). Exploitation requires no authentication. The issue is fixed in version 4.24.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed May 2025, reported by Jack Taylor.

Vulnerability Overview

The Relevanssi – A Better Search plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to time-based SQL Injection via the cats and tags query parameters in all versions up to, and including, 4.24.4 (Free) and <= 2.27.5 (Premium) due to insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This makes it possible for unauthenticated attackers to append additional SQL queries to 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 privileges on the target site, 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')

Reaching this weakness in Relevanssi <= 4.24.4 takes no account at all. 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 Relevanssi the fix is 4.24.5: builds <= 4.24.4 are affected, anything from 4.24.5 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.24.5, or a newer patched version

How WordSec helps

Requests carrying this pattern arrive without a session, so nothing upstream of the firewall gets a chance to reject them: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: Relevanssi 4.24.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Login Security
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2025-4396https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/197be163-4504-4caa-b729-c3293463cfb5https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2025-4396

Related records

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