CVE-2024-27956: Valvepress Automatic SQLi Vulnerability

CVE-2024-27956 Overview

CVE-2024-27956 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability affecting the ValvePress Automatic plugin for WordPress. This vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to execute arbitrary SQL commands against the underlying database, potentially leading to complete database compromise, data exfiltration, and unauthorized administrative access to WordPress installations.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this SQL Injection vulnerability to extract sensitive data, modify database contents, create administrative accounts, and potentially achieve full server compromise through database-level attacks.

Affected Products

• ValvePress Automatic plugin for WordPress versions through 3.92.0
• WordPress installations using vulnerable versions of WP Automatic
• Any site with the Automatic plugin installed without the security patch

Discovery Timeline

• 2024-03-21 - CVE-2024-27956 published to NVD
• 2025-02-14 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2024-27956

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability (CWE-89) exists in the ValvePress Automatic plugin due to improper neutralization of special elements used in SQL commands. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated users to inject malicious SQL statements that are executed directly against the WordPress database without proper sanitization or parameterization.

The attack can be performed remotely over the network without any user interaction or prior authentication. Successful exploitation grants attackers the ability to read, modify, or delete arbitrary data from the WordPress database, including user credentials, sensitive configuration data, and potentially the entire site content.

Root Cause

The root cause of CVE-2024-27956 is the failure to properly sanitize and validate user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. The ValvePress Automatic plugin does not implement adequate input validation or use parameterized queries (prepared statements) when processing certain user-controllable data. This allows attackers to break out of the intended SQL query context and inject their own malicious SQL commands.

Attack Vector

The vulnerability is exploitable over the network by unauthenticated attackers. The attack flow involves sending specially crafted HTTP requests to the WordPress site with malicious SQL payloads embedded in vulnerable parameters. Since no authentication is required, any attacker with network access to the WordPress installation can attempt exploitation.

The SQL Injection attack typically follows these stages: initial reconnaissance to identify vulnerable endpoints, injection of SQL payloads to extract database schema information, followed by data exfiltration or modification. Attackers may leverage techniques such as UNION-based injection, blind SQL injection, or time-based injection depending on the application's response behavior.

For detailed technical information about this vulnerability, refer to the Patchstack security advisory.

Detection Methods for CVE-2024-27956

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual database queries in web server or database logs containing SQL injection patterns such as UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, or encoded variants
• Unexpected administrative user accounts created in the WordPress database
• Database error messages appearing in application logs indicating malformed queries
• Evidence of data exfiltration or unauthorized database modifications
• Web application firewall (WAF) alerts for SQL injection attempts targeting the WP Automatic plugin endpoints

Detection Strategies

• Deploy web application firewall rules specifically targeting SQL injection patterns in requests to WordPress plugin endpoints
• Monitor database query logs for anomalous or unauthorized queries originating from the web application
• Implement file integrity monitoring to detect unauthorized changes to WordPress core files, plugins, or themes
• Review WordPress audit logs for suspicious administrative actions or user creation events

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed logging for database queries and web server access to establish a baseline and detect anomalies
• Configure alerting for new administrator account creation or privilege escalation events in WordPress
• Monitor network traffic for unusual data exfiltration patterns or large database query responses
• Implement regular security scanning to detect vulnerable plugin versions in your WordPress environment

How to Mitigate CVE-2024-27956

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the ValvePress Automatic plugin to version 3.92.1 or later immediately
• Audit WordPress database for unauthorized user accounts or suspicious data modifications
• Review web server and database logs for evidence of exploitation attempts
• Consider temporarily disabling the Automatic plugin until the update can be applied
• Implement web application firewall rules to block SQL injection attempts as an additional defense layer

Patch Information

The vulnerability has been addressed in versions of the ValvePress Automatic plugin after version 3.92.0. Site administrators should update to the latest available version through the WordPress plugin update mechanism or by downloading directly from the plugin vendor.

For more information about the patched versions, see the Patchstack article on WordPress Automatic plugin vulnerabilities.

Workarounds

• Temporarily disable or remove the ValvePress Automatic plugin if immediate patching is not possible
• Implement web application firewall rules to block requests containing SQL injection payloads
• Restrict network access to WordPress administrative endpoints and plugin interfaces where feasible
• Enable WordPress security plugins that provide real-time SQL injection protection

# Disable WP Automatic plugin via WP-CLI if available
wp plugin deactivate automatic --path=/var/www/html/wordpress

# Alternatively, rename the plugin directory to disable it
mv /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/automatic /var/www/html/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/automatic.disabled

# Update the plugin to the latest version
wp plugin update automatic --path=/var/www/html/wordpress