WP Popup Banners <= 1.2.5 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) SQL Injection via 'value'
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Unpatched
- Affected Plugin
- WP Popup Banners
- Affected Version
<= 1.2.5- CVSS
- 8.8High
- Weakness type
- CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2023-28661
At a glance
CVE-2023-28661 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the WP Popup Banners WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 1.2.5. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account at Subscriber level or above. No fixed release has been reported yet; treat installations running this software as exposed. Disclosed March 2023, reported by Joshua Martinelle.
Vulnerability Overview
The WP Popup Banners plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to a time-based SQL Injection via the 'value' parameter of the get_popup_data AJAX action in versions up to, and including, 1.2.5 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 subscriber-level permissions 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. 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')
WP Popup Banners <= 1.2.5 carries this weakness at value, and reaching it takes an account at Subscriber 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. No fixed build of this plugin is recorded for WP Popup Banners yet, so installs running <= 1.2.5 stay exposed until the vendor ships one.
Remediation
No known patch available. Please review the vulnerability's details in depth and employ mitigations based on your organization's risk tolerance. It may be best to uninstall the affected software and find a replacement.
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Subscriber 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. No patched version is recorded yet, which is the case where a filtering layer matters most, because there is nothing to update to.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
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