Boost Your Blog's Engagement with WP Post Author <= 3.8.1 - Authenticated (Administrator+) SQL Injection
Strategic Overview
- Status
- Patched in 3.8.2
- Affected Version
<= 3.8.1- CVSS
- 7.2High
- Weakness type
- CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
- CVE
CVE-2024-8757
At a glance
CVE-2024-8757 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the WP Post Author WordPress plugin, affecting versions <= 3.8.1. 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 Administrator level or above. The issue is fixed in version 3.8.2; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed October 2024, reported by Lesor101.
Vulnerability Overview
The WP Post Author – Boost Your Blog's Engagement with Author Box, Social Links, Co-Authors, Guest Authors, Post Rating System, and Custom User Registration Form Builder plugin for WordPress is vulnerable to time-based SQL Injection via the linked_user_id parameter in all versions up to, and including, 3.8.1 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 Administrator-level access 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')
Reaching this weakness in WP Post Author <= 3.8.1 takes an account at Administrator 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 WP Post Author the fix is 3.8.2: builds <= 3.8.1 are affected, anything from 3.8.2 onward is not.
Remediation
Update to version 3.8.2, or a newer patched version
How does WordSec protect against this?
An attacker needs Administrator 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: WP Post Author 3.8.2 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.
- Firewall
- Alerts
External References
Related records
Same weakness class
Other vulnerabilities in WP Post Author – Author Box, Multiple Authors, Guest Authors & Custom Avatars
- 9.8WP Post Author <= 3.2.3 Privilege Escalation
- 6.4CVE-2024-37101: WP Post Author <= 3.6.7 Stored Cross-Site Scripting
CVE-2024-37101 - 6.1CVE-2024-13362: Freemius <= 2.10.1 Reflected DOM-Based XSS
CVE-2024-13362 - 4.3CVE-2024-34387: WP Post Author Rating Manipulation
CVE-2024-34387 - 4.3CVE-2024-34389: WP Post Author Missing Authorization
CVE-2024-34389
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