The Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) system is used to identify and categorize publicly known vulnerabilities in software systems. In this article, we will discuss a critical SQL injection vulnerability that has recently been identified in the OWM Weather WordPress plugin, and is assigned an ID of CVE-2022-3769. This vulnerability occurs before version 5.6.9 of the plugin, and can lead to potentially disastrous exploits by users with as little access rights as a contributor role.
Description of Vulnerability
The OWM Weather WordPress plugin is a popular tool used to display weather information on WordPress websites using OpenWeatherMap API. It has recently been discovered that versions before 5.6.9 of this plugin are vulnerable to a severe SQL injection attack. This is due to improper sanitization and escaping of a particular parameter before it is used in a SQL statement, making it possible for attackers to manipulate and compromise the integrity of a website's underlying database.
This SQL injection vulnerability can be exploited by users with a role as low as a contributor role on a WordPress site that uses the affected plugin version. In practical terms, this means that the attack is not limited to high-level administrators or database users, making it particularly dangerous and critical.
The relevant code snippet where the vulnerability occurs can be found below
// Retrieval of unsanitized POST request parameter
$unsafe_parameter = $_POST['input_parameter'];
// Usage of unsanitized parameter in SQL statement
$sql = "SELECT * FROM example_table WHERE id = $unsafe_parameter";
$result = mysqli_query($connection, $sql);
In the code above, the $unsafe_parameter variable from a user's POST request is not properly sanitized or escaped before being used in the SQL statement. This makes it possible for an attacker to inject malicious SQL code, potentially leading to unauthorized access and data manipulation.
Exploit Details
An attacker can initiate the exploit by sending a specially crafted HTTP POST request to the affected WordPress site, containing a malicious SQL segment as the parameter:
POST /vulnerableplugin/ HTTP/1.1
Host: vulnerablewordpress.com
Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded
Content-Length: 100
input_parameter=1';DROP+TABLE+example_table;--
The above request would effectively cause the plugin to execute the DROP TABLE command, potentially leading to permanent data loss and database corruption. In a real-world scenario, the attacker could use this injection method to exfiltrate sensitive information, delete records, or even gain unauthorized access to other parts of the website hosting the plugin.
Original References and Mitigation
This vulnerability was assigned an ID of CVE-2022-3769 and was made public via the official CVE database:
https://cve.mitre.org/cgi-bin/cvename.cgi?name=CVE-2022-3769
To protect your WordPress site from this dangerous vulnerability, it is highly recommended to update the OWM Weather plugin to version 5.6.9 or later, as it contains a fix for the SQL injection issue. You can download the latest version from the following link:
https://wordpress.org/plugins/owm-weather/
It is also important for WordPress administrators to limit access control for users with lower-level permissions, such as contributors, to reduce the potential attack surface.
Conclusion
CVE-2022-3769 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability in the OWM Weather WordPress plugin before 5.6.9 that allows users with as low as contributor roles to carry out dangerous attacks. We strongly encourage administrators to update the plugin to the latest version and ensure restricted access permissions for users to keep their websites safe and secure.
Timeline
Published on: 11/28/2022 14:15:00 UTC
Last modified on: 12/02/2022 19:47:00 UTC