Simple Membership <= 4.0.3 - Authenticated (Admin+) SQL Injections

2021-04-05 00:00
Martin Vierula

Strategic Overview

Status
Patched in 4.0.4
Affected Plugin
Simple Membership
Affected Version
<= 4.0.3
CVSS
7.2High
Weakness type
CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE
CVE pending
View all Simple Membership vulnerabilities

At a glance

This record tracks a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Simple Membership WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 4.0.3. It carries a CVSS score of 7.2 (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 4.0.4; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed April 2021, reported by Martin Vierula.

Vulnerability Overview

The Simple Membership plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to time-based SQL Injection via the 's' and 'status' parameters in versions up to, and including, 4.0.3 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 Admin+ attackers 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')

Simple Membership <= 4.0.3 carries this weakness at and, 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 Simple Membership the fix is 4.0.4: builds <= 4.0.3 are affected, anything from 4.0.4 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 4.0.4, 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: Simple Membership 4.0.4 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

  • Firewall
  • Alerts

External References

https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/1664fef3-6416-4678-9ee7-bed2184d7490

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