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How the mentioned CVE works:
The vulnerability resides in the “getTermsForAjax” function of the Tag, Category, and Taxonomy Manager – AI Autotagger with OpenAI plugin for WordPress. This function handles AJAX requests to fetch taxonomy terms. Due to insufficient escaping of user-supplied parameters and a lack of prepared statements, the underlying SQL query is susceptible to injection. Authenticated attackers with contributor-level access or higher can exploit this by sending crafted requests. Specifically, they can inject malicious SQL code into parameters like search terms or taxonomy identifiers. The injection is time-based, meaning attackers use payloads that trigger conditional time delays in the database response. For example, an attacker might append a SLEEP() command to infer the truth of a condition based on response times. This allows blind extraction of sensitive information from the database, such as user data or system details. The attack requires metabox access for the taxonomy, which is enabled by default for contributors. The vulnerability affects all plugin versions up to and including 3.40.1. Exploitation involves sending HTTP POST requests to the admin-ajax.php endpoint with specific action parameters. The plugin fails to properly sanitize input before concatenating it into SQL queries. This oversight enables attackers to break out of the intended query structure and execute arbitrary SQL commands. Time-based techniques rely on observing server response delays to deduce data values character by character. Successful exploitation can lead to full database compromise, including access to hashed passwords or other confidential information. The vulnerability is a classic example of second-order SQL injection where user input is stored and used later in queries. Mitigation requires proper use of prepared statements and input validation in the plugin code.
Platform: AI Autotagger Plugin
Version: Up to 3.40.1
Vulnerability: Time-based SQL Injection
Severity: Medium
date: 12/03/2025
Prediction: Patch expected soon
What Undercode Say:
Analytics
curl -X POST ‘https://example.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php’ –data ‘action=getTermsForAjax&taxonomy=post_tag’ -H ‘Cookie: wordpress_logged_in=…’
sqlmap -u ‘https://example.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php’ –data=’action=getTermsForAjax’ –risk=3 –level=5 –time-sec=10
SELECT SLEEP(10) FROM wp_users WHERE user_login=’admin’;
how Exploit:
Authenticate as contributor.
Craft AJAX request with malicious SQL payload.
Use time-delay injection to extract data.
Automate with tools like sqlmap.
Protection from this CVE
Update plugin version.
Use prepared statements.
Implement input sanitization.
Impact:
Data confidentiality loss.
Potential privilege escalation.
Database integrity compromise.
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Sources:
Reported By: nvd.nist.gov
Extra Source Hub:
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