CVE-2025-4204: Ultimate Auction Pro Plugin SQLi Flaw

CVE-2025-4204 Overview

CVE-2025-4204 is a SQL Injection vulnerability affecting the Ultimate Auction Pro plugin for WordPress. The vulnerability exists in all versions up to and including 1.5.2 due to insufficient escaping on the user-supplied auction_id parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query. This flaw allows unauthenticated attackers to append additional SQL queries into already existing queries, enabling extraction of sensitive information from the database.

Critical Impact

Unauthenticated attackers can exploit this SQL Injection vulnerability to extract sensitive data from WordPress databases, potentially compromising user credentials, payment information, and auction data without requiring any authentication.

Affected Products

• Ultimate Auction Pro plugin for WordPress versions up to and including 1.5.2
• Auctionplugin Ultimate WordPress Auction Plugin (Pro edition)
• WordPress sites running vulnerable versions of the Ultimate Woo Auction Pro plugin

Discovery Timeline

• 2025-05-02 - CVE-2025-4204 published to NVD
• 2025-06-04 - Last updated in NVD database

Technical Details for CVE-2025-4204

Vulnerability Analysis

This SQL Injection vulnerability (CWE-89) stems from improper handling of user input in the auction_id parameter. The plugin fails to properly sanitize and escape user-supplied data before incorporating it into SQL queries, and lacks parameterized query preparation. This classic SQL Injection pattern allows attackers to manipulate database queries by injecting malicious SQL statements through the vulnerable parameter.

The vulnerability is particularly concerning because it can be exploited by unauthenticated users, meaning no login credentials are required to launch an attack. Successful exploitation could allow attackers to read arbitrary data from the WordPress database, including user accounts, password hashes, customer information, and auction records.

Root Cause

The root cause of this vulnerability is the absence of proper input validation and parameterized queries in the plugin's database interaction layer. When the auction_id parameter is passed to the application, it is directly concatenated into SQL queries without proper escaping or the use of prepared statements. WordPress provides the $wpdb->prepare() method specifically to prevent such vulnerabilities, but this protection was not implemented for the affected parameter.

Attack Vector

The attack can be carried out remotely over the network without requiring authentication or user interaction. An attacker can craft malicious HTTP requests containing SQL injection payloads in the auction_id parameter. These payloads can include UNION-based, blind, or time-based SQL injection techniques to extract database contents.

For example, an attacker might manipulate the auction_id parameter to include SQL statements that return additional data from other database tables, or use conditional statements to infer database contents through application behavior changes. The technical details of this vulnerability are documented in the Wordfence threat intelligence report.

Detection Methods for CVE-2025-4204

Indicators of Compromise

• Unusual SQL error messages in WordPress logs referencing auction-related tables or functions
• Unexpected database queries containing UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, or other SQL injection patterns in the auction_id parameter
• Anomalous access patterns to auction endpoints with malformed numeric parameters
• Database query logs showing concatenated SQL statements or unusual WHERE clause modifications

Detection Strategies

• Implement Web Application Firewall (WAF) rules to detect SQL injection patterns in request parameters, specifically targeting the auction_id parameter
• Monitor WordPress error logs for SQL syntax errors or database-related exceptions that may indicate exploitation attempts
• Configure intrusion detection systems to alert on requests containing common SQL injection keywords such as UNION, SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE, and DROP
• Audit access logs for requests to auction plugin endpoints with unusually long or encoded parameter values

Monitoring Recommendations

• Enable detailed query logging on your database server to capture suspicious SQL statements
• Set up real-time alerting for failed SQL queries or queries returning unexpected row counts
• Monitor for data exfiltration patterns such as unusual outbound data transfers or bulk database reads
• Review audit logs for signs of unauthorized access to sensitive database tables containing user or payment information

How to Mitigate CVE-2025-4204

Immediate Actions Required

• Update the Ultimate Auction Pro plugin to the latest patched version immediately
• Review the Ultimate Woo Auction Pro Changelog for the security fix details
• Conduct a security audit of your WordPress database to check for signs of data extraction or unauthorized modifications
• Temporarily disable the plugin if an update is not immediately available and the functionality is not critical

Patch Information

The vendor has released a security update addressing this SQL Injection vulnerability. Administrators should update to the latest version of Ultimate Auction Pro that includes the security fix. The changelog and update information can be found on the official plugin changelog page.

After applying the update, verify the plugin version is newer than 1.5.2 to ensure the vulnerability has been patched.

Workarounds

• Deploy a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection protection rules to filter malicious requests targeting the auction_id parameter
• Restrict access to auction plugin endpoints using IP whitelisting or authentication requirements if possible
• Implement server-level input validation to reject requests containing SQL injection patterns
• Consider using WordPress security plugins that provide real-time protection against SQL injection attacks

# Example: Block SQL injection patterns at the web server level (Apache mod_rewrite)
# Add to .htaccess file
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{QUERY_STRING} (union|select|insert|update|delete|drop|--) [NC]
RewriteRule .* - [F,L]