CVE-2025-22710

Executive Summary

CVE-2025-22710 is a critical Blind SQL Injection vulnerability affecting the WordPress plugin Smart Manager (by Storeapps) versions up to and including 8.52.0. The vulnerability stems from improper neutralization of special elements used in an SQL command, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to perform blind SQL injection attacks. This can lead to unauthorized data extraction, modification, or deletion from the underlying WordPress database. The CVSS score of 7.6 (High) reflects the ease of exploitation (network-based, low complexity, no privileges required) and the potential for high confidentiality impact. No public exploit code or patch is currently available, making this a high-priority zero-day threat for WordPress sites using this plugin.

Supply Chain & Package Security

This vulnerability affects a WordPress plugin distributed via the official WordPress plugin repository. The supply chain risk is elevated because:

• No patch is available from the vendor (Storeapps) as of this report.
• The plugin is widely used for e-commerce inventory management, making it a high-value target.
• Attackers may target outdated plugin installations through automated scanning.

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) – The vulnerable component remains the same.
• Confidentiality (C): High (H) – Full database read access possible.
• Integrity (I): Low (L) – Limited data modification possible.
• Availability (A): Low (L) – Potential for denial of service via SQL manipulation.

Threat Level: High. The combination of remote, unauthenticated exploitation with high confidentiality impact makes this a critical risk for unpatched installations.

Deep Dive & Mechanics

The vulnerability exists in the smart-manager-for-wp-e-commerce plugin, specifically in how it handles user-supplied input within SQL queries. The plugin likely processes parameters such as search terms, sorting options, or AJAX requests without proper sanitization or parameterized queries. A blind SQL injection occurs when the attacker can infer information from the database by observing the application's response (e.g., timing delays, boolean responses) rather than seeing the data directly.

Attack Vector: The most probable injection point is through HTTP GET or POST parameters used in the plugin's admin-ajax.php or custom REST endpoints. For example, a parameter like search or sort might be directly concatenated into an SQL query.

Blind SQL Injection Techniques:

• Boolean-based: The attacker sends payloads that cause the query to return true or false, observing differences in the HTTP response (e.g., 200 vs 500, or different content length).
• Time-based: The attacker uses SLEEP() or WAITFOR DELAY to introduce time delays, confirming the injection point and extracting data character by character.

Example vulnerable code pattern (conceptual):

$search = $_GET['search'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_title LIKE '%$search%'";
$result = $wpdb->get_results($query);

Exploitation Goal: Extract sensitive data such as admin credentials, user emails, or configuration secrets from the WordPress database.

Vulnerable vs. Patched Code

Since no patch is available, we can only hypothesize the fix. The patched code would use prepared statements or parameterized queries.

Vulnerable Code (Conceptual):

$search = $_GET['search'];
$query = "SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_title LIKE '%" . $search . "%'";
$result = $wpdb->get_results($query);

Patched Code (Conceptual):

$search = $_GET['search'];
$query = $wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_title LIKE %s", '%' . $search . '%');
$result = $wpdb->get_results($query);

The key difference is the use of $wpdb->prepare() which escapes the input and prevents SQL injection.

Exploitation & Lab Setup

Red Team (Offensive)

Lab Setup:

1. Install WordPress with the Smart Manager plugin version 8.52.0.
2. Identify the vulnerable endpoint (likely an AJAX handler). Use a web proxy (Burp Suite) to intercept requests.
3. Test for blind SQL injection using time-based payloads.

Proof-of-Concept (Conceptual):

# Boolean-based blind injection
curl -k "https://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=smart_manager_search&search=test' AND 1=1-- -"
curl -k "https://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=smart_manager_search&search=test' AND 1=2-- -"

# Time-based blind injection
curl -k "https://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=smart_manager_search&search=test' OR SLEEP(5)-- -"

Automated Exploitation (sqlmap):

sqlmap -u "https://target.com/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php?action=smart_manager_search&search=test" --batch --dbms=mysql --technique=BT --level=3 --risk=2

Blue Team (Defensive)

Detection:

• Monitor for SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests (e.g., SLEEP, BENCHMARK, OR 1=1).
• Look for unusual response times (time-based attacks).
• Check for repeated requests with varying boolean conditions.

Hunting:

• Search logs for admin-ajax.php requests with action=smart_manager_search and suspicious parameters.
• Use the YARA and Sigma rules below to scan files and logs.

Indicators of Compromise (IOCs)

• Network IOCs:

  • HTTP requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action=smart_manager_search and SQL-like payloads.
  • Unusually long response times (e.g., >5 seconds) for AJAX requests.
  • Repeated requests with AND 1=1 and AND 1=2 patterns.

• File IOCs:

  • Modified plugin files in /wp-content/plugins/smart-manager-for-wp-e-commerce/.
  • Suspicious entries in WordPress database tables (e.g., wp_options, wp_users).

• Log IOCs:

  • Web server logs showing SQL injection attempts (e.g., SLEEP, UNION, SELECT).
  • PHP error logs with SQL syntax errors.

Detection Engineering

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2025_22710_Smart_Manager_SQLi {
    meta:
        description = "Detects SQL injection attempts targeting Smart Manager plugin"
        author = "Valters IT"
        date = "2025-04-10"
        cve = "CVE-2025-22710"
    strings:
        $s1 = "smart_manager_search" nocase
        $s2 = "SLEEP(" nocase
        $s3 = "BENCHMARK(" nocase
        $s4 = "OR 1=1" nocase
        $s5 = "AND 1=2" nocase
        $s6 = "UNION SELECT" nocase
    condition:
        $s1 and any of ($s2,$s3,$s4,$s5,$s6)
}

Sigma Rule

title: CVE-2025-22710 Smart Manager SQL Injection Attempt
id: 8a9b7c6d-5e4f-3a2b-1c0d-9e8f7a6b5c4d
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection attempts against Smart Manager plugin
author: Valters IT
date: 2025/04/10
logsource:
    category: webserver
    product: apache
    service: access_combined
detection:
    selection:
        cs-uri-query|contains:
            - 'action=smart_manager_search'
            - 'SLEEP('
            - 'BENCHMARK('
            - 'OR 1=1'
            - 'AND 1=2'
            - 'UNION SELECT'
    condition: selection
falsepositives:
    - Legitimate use of similar strings in search queries (rare)
level: high

Suricata Rule

alert http $HOME_NET any -> $EXTERNAL_NET any (msg:"CVE-2025-22710 Smart Manager SQL Injection Attempt"; flow:to_server,established; content:"/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"; http_uri; content:"action=smart_manager_search"; http_uri; pcre:"/(SLEEP\(|BENCHMARK\(|OR\s+1=1|AND\s+1=2|UNION\s+SELECT)/i"; classtype:web-application-attack; sid:1000001; rev:1;)

Remediation & Mitigation

Immediate Actions:

1. Disable the plugin if it is not critical for business operations.
2. Implement a Web Application Firewall (WAF) rule to block SQL injection patterns targeting admin-ajax.php.
3. Monitor logs for exploitation attempts using the provided detection rules.

Long-term Fix:

• Vendor Patch: Await an official patch from Storeapps. Check the WordPress plugin repository for updates.
• Code Hardening: If you have access to the source code, replace all direct SQL queries with prepared statements using $wpdb->prepare().
• Update: Once a patch is released, update to the latest version immediately.

Workaround:

• Restrict access to admin-ajax.php via .htaccess or server configuration to only allow authenticated users (if the plugin's functionality permits).

Valters IT