CVE-2017-14848

WPHRM - Human Resource Management System < 1.1 - SQL Injection

2017-09-09 00:00

Strategic Overview

Status: Patched in 1.1
Affected Theme: WPHRM – Human Resource Management System for Wordpress | WordPress
Affected Version: < 1.1
CVSS: 8.8High
Weakness type: CWE-89 · Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
CVE: CVE-2017-14848

View all WPHRM – Human Resource Management System for Wordpress | WordPress vulnerabilities

At a glance

CVE-2017-14848 is a high-severity Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in the WPHRM WordPress theme, affecting versions < 1.1. It carries a CVSS score of 8.8 (reachable over the network; low attack complexity; high confidentiality, integrity, availability impact). The issue is fixed in version 1.1; sites on affected versions should update now. Disclosed September 2017, reported by Ihsan Sencan.

Vulnerability Overview

WPHRM Human Resource Management System for WordPress 1.0 allows SQL Injection via the employee_id parameter.

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 WPHRM < 1.1 takes a caller who can reach the endpoint. 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 WPHRM the fix is 1.1: builds < 1.1 are affected, anything from 1.1 onward is not.

Remediation

Update to version 1.1, or a newer patched version

How does WordSec protect against this?

The attempt arrives as an ordinary request to WPHRM: WordSec's web application firewall inspects request payloads before WordPress loads them. None of that substitutes for the fix: WPHRM 1.1 closes this, and updating the theme is the step that ends it.

Firewall
Alerts

External References

https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2017-14848 https://www.wordfence.com/threat-intel/vulnerabilities/id/94d8211d-4027-4335-8c06-d8080231e511 https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2017-14848

CVSS Vector

8.8

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

Base

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

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