CVE-2025-31561

Remediation/Mitigation Strategy: SQL Injection Vulnerability in Ultimate Push Notifications Plugin

Vulnerability ID: CVE-2025-31561

Plugin: Ultimate Push Notifications

Affected Versions: <= 1.1.8

Description of Vulnerability:

This vulnerability concerns an SQL Injection flaw present in the Ultimate Push Notifications plugin for WordPress. Specifically, the plugin fails to properly sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into an SQL query. This allows a malicious actor to inject arbitrary SQL code, potentially leading to unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion within the WordPress database. This is categorized as “Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command (‘SQL Injection’).”

Severity:

• CVSS Score: 8.5 (High)
• Vector: AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H (Network, Low Attack Complexity, No Privileges Required, No User Interaction, Unchanged Scope, High Confidentiality Impact, High Integrity Impact, High Availability Impact)

This high severity score indicates that the vulnerability is easily exploitable over the network, doesn’t require any user interaction, and could completely compromise the WordPress installation.

Known Exploit:

While the provided data doesn’t include specifics on the exact injection point, the vulnerability classification (SQL Injection) and the CVSS vector suggest that the exploit likely involves manipulating user-supplied parameters within HTTP requests sent to the WordPress server. These parameters are then unsafely used in constructing SQL queries.

Possible exploit scenarios include:

• Data Exfiltration: An attacker could inject SQL code to extract sensitive data such as user credentials, customer information, or administrative details from the database.
• Data Modification: SQL injection could be used to modify or delete data within the database, potentially corrupting website content, disrupting functionality, or defacing the site.
• Privilege Escalation: In some cases, SQL injection can be leveraged to create new administrative accounts or elevate privileges of existing accounts, granting the attacker complete control over the WordPress site.
• Remote Code Execution (Potential): Depending on the database server configuration and WordPress setup, SQL injection could potentially be chained with other vulnerabilities to achieve remote code execution on the server. This is less common, but a possibility.

Remediation/Mitigation Strategy:

The primary focus should be on patching the plugin to a secure version. If patching is not immediately possible, implement the following mitigating controls:

1. Apply the Patch (Highest Priority): The vendor (M. Tuhin) should release a patched version of the Ultimate Push Notifications plugin (likely version 1.1.9 or higher) that addresses the SQL injection vulnerability. Install the patched version immediately upon its availability. This is the most effective solution.

2. Web Application Firewall (WAF) Rules:

   • Deploy or configure a WAF (e.g., ModSecurity, Cloudflare WAF, Sucuri) to inspect incoming traffic for SQL injection attempts targeting the Ultimate Push Notifications plugin.
   • Create custom WAF rules that specifically block requests containing common SQL injection payloads and patterns (e.g., UNION SELECT, DROP TABLE, comment injection attempts like --). Carefully test these rules to avoid false positives.
   • Ensure the WAF is configured in “blocking” or “prevention” mode to actively block malicious requests.

3. Input Validation and Sanitization (Temporary Measures): If patching is impossible in the short term, you can attempt to implement some temporary input validation and sanitization measures, although these are generally less reliable than a proper patch:

   • Identify Vulnerable Input Fields: Analyze the plugin’s code (if possible) or observe network traffic to identify the specific parameters that are being used in SQL queries and are potentially vulnerable to injection.
   • Whitelisting: If possible, define a whitelist of allowed characters, formats, or values for each input field. Reject any input that doesn’t conform to the whitelist.
   • Escaping: Escape special characters (e.g., single quotes, double quotes, backslashes) in user-supplied input before using it in SQL queries. Use the database’s built-in escaping functions (e.g., mysqli_real_escape_string in PHP) to ensure proper escaping. This is not a foolproof solution, and should only be used as a temporary measure.
   • Prepared Statements/Parameterized Queries: Ideally, the plugin should be rewritten to use prepared statements or parameterized queries. These techniques separate the SQL code from the data, preventing SQL injection attacks. This requires code modification and is not a short-term fix unless you have access to the plugin’s source code and the development expertise.

4. Database Access Controls:

   • Enforce the principle of least privilege. Ensure that the database user account used by the WordPress application has only the minimum necessary permissions to perform its required tasks. Avoid granting excessive privileges (e.g., GRANT ALL) that could be exploited by an attacker through SQL injection.
   • Consider using a separate database user for the Ultimate Push Notifications plugin, with restricted permissions.

5. Monitoring and Logging:

   • Enable detailed logging of all database activity. This will help you detect and investigate any suspicious activity that might be indicative of a SQL injection attack.
   • Monitor system logs for unusual error messages or patterns that could signal an attack.
   • Implement intrusion detection systems (IDS) to alert you to potential SQL injection attempts.

6. Disable the Plugin (Last Resort): If none of the above mitigation strategies can be effectively implemented and the risk is deemed too high, temporarily disable the Ultimate Push Notifications plugin until a patched version is available. This will eliminate the vulnerability but will also disable the plugin’s functionality.

Testing and Verification:

• After applying any remediation or mitigation measures, thoroughly test the plugin to ensure that the SQL injection vulnerability has been successfully addressed.
• Use a vulnerability scanner or penetration testing tool to attempt to exploit the vulnerability and verify that it is no longer exploitable.
• Test the plugin’s functionality to ensure that the remediation measures haven’t introduced any new issues.

Important Considerations:

• Patching is Always Preferred: The best and most reliable solution is to apply the vendor-supplied patch as soon as it becomes available.
• Defense in Depth: Implement multiple layers of security controls to provide comprehensive protection against SQL injection attacks.
• Ongoing Monitoring: Continuously monitor your systems for new vulnerabilities and threats. Keep your WAF rules and intrusion detection systems up to date.

This remediation strategy should help to mitigate the risk associated with the SQL injection vulnerability in the Ultimate Push Notifications plugin. Remember to prioritize patching and implement a defense-in-depth approach to ensure the security of your WordPress installation.

Assigner

• Patchstack [email protected]

Date

• Published Date: 2025-04-01 20:58:13
• Updated Date: 2025-04-02 14:58:08

More Details

CVE-2025-31561