Export Users With Meta < 0.6.5 - Authenticated (Admin+) SQL Injection
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 0.6.5
- Affected Plugin
- Export Users With Meta
- Affected Version
< 0.6.5- CVSS
- 7.2High
- Weakness type
- CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2021-24451
At a glance
CVE-2021-24451 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the Export Users With Meta WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 0.6.5. 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 0.6.5; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed June 2021, reported by Asif Nawaz Minhas.
Vulnerability Overview
The Export Users With Meta WordPress plugin before 0.6.5 did not escape the list of roles to export before using them in a SQL statement in the export functionality, available to admins, leading to an authenticated SQL Injection.
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')
Reaching this weakness in Export Users With Meta < 0.6.5 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 Export Users With Meta the fix is 0.6.5: builds < 0.6.5 are affected, anything from 0.6.5 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 0.6.5, 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: Export Users With Meta 0.6.5 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Vulnerability data © Defiant, Inc., provided under the Wordfence Intelligence T&C