CVE-2014-8810

WP Symposium < 14.11 - Authenticated SQL Injection

2014-11-26 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 14.11
Affected Plugin: WP Symposium
Affected Version: < 14.11
CVSS: 9.9Critical
Weakness type: CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE: CVE-2014-8810

At a glance

CVE-2014-8810 is a critical-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the WP Symposium WordPress plugin, affecting versions < 14.11. It carries a CVSS score of 9.9 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). Exploitation requires an authenticated account. The issue is fixed in version 14.11; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed November 2014, reported by Kacper Szurek.

Vulnerability Overview

SQL injection vulnerability in ajax/mail_functions.php in the WP Symposium plugin before 14.11 for WordPress allows remote authenticated users to execute arbitrary SQL commands via the tray parameter in a getMailMessage action.

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 Symposium < 14.11 takes any authenticated account. 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 Symposium the fix is 14.11: builds < 14.11 are affected, anything from 14.11 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 14.11, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WP Symposium: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: WP Symposium 14.11 closes this, and updating the plugin is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2014-8810 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/a14c04e8-72cc-4415-a95c-e26f6335b485 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2014-8810

Related records

Same weakness class

Other vulnerabilities in WP Symposium

CVSS Vector

9.9

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

Base

Attack VectorNetwork
Attack ComplexityLow
Privileges RequiredLow
User InteractionNone
ScopeChanged
ConfidentialityHigh
IntegrityHigh
AvailabilityHigh

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