CVE-2026-42713

Executive Summary

CVE-2026-42713 is an authenticated (high-privilege) blind SQL injection vulnerability in the WordPress plugin "Post title marquee scroll" (slug: post-title-marquee-scroll), maintained by Gopiplus, affecting all versions through 9.9. A remote attacker with high privileges (per CVSS PR:H — e.g., an administrative or otherwise elevated WordPress role) can inject special elements into an SQL command that are not properly neutralized, allowing data exfiltration via blind inference techniques. Successful exploitation compromises confidentiality of the backend database; integrity impact is not asserted by the vector and availability impact is partial. No public exploit, nuclei template, or CISA KEV listing is currently associated with this CVE.

Technical Analysis

The vulnerability is classified under CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection'). The NVD description explicitly characterizes it as a Blind SQL Injection issue in the WordPress plugin Post title marquee scroll, affecting versions "from n/a through 9.9."

Blind SQL injection means the application does not return query results or verbose database errors directly to the attacker. Instead, the attacker must infer information by observing differential application behavior — boolean true/false responses (boolean-based blind) or response timing (time-based blind). The underlying mechanism is the concatenation or unsafe interpolation of user-controllable input into an SQL statement without parameterization or proper escaping (for example, failure to use WordPress's $wpdb->prepare() abstraction, though the NVD description does not specify the exact code path).

Because the plugin operates within the WordPress ecosystem, the injection point resides in plugin-supplied functionality that queries the WordPress database (MySQL/MariaDB). The CVSS vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:N/A:L provides the following derivable facts:

• AV:N — exploitable over the network (HTTP requests to the WordPress site).
• AC:L — no special conditions beyond the standard attack path; exploitation is repeatable and straightforward for a skilled attacker.
• PR:H — the attacker must hold high privileges, i.e., an authenticated account with elevated capabilities. This significantly narrows the exploitable population.
• UI:N — no victim interaction is required.
• S:C (Scope: Changed) — a successful exploit can affect resources beyond the vulnerable component's security authority. In a WordPress context this reflects that database access obtained through the plugin can expose data managed by the broader WordPress core/other components.
• C:H — high confidentiality impact: full read access to data reachable by the injected query.
• I:N — no integrity impact asserted.
• A:L — partial availability impact (e.g., resource consumption from repeated timing probes or query-induced load).

Insufficient technical detail available: the NVD description does not disclose the specific vulnerable parameter, function name, file path, or endpoint within the plugin. Any claim naming a concrete function, parameter, or file would be fabrication and is therefore omitted. Analysis proceeds at the vulnerability-class level.

Exploitation Scenarios

No public PoC is available; the attack chain below is inferred strictly from the vulnerability class (blind SQL injection) and the affected product.

1. Reconnaissance / target identification. The attacker identifies WordPress sites running the Post title marquee scroll plugin at version 9.9 or earlier. Fingerprinting is achievable by requesting plugin assets under the well-known WordPress plugin path (/wp-content/plugins/post-title-marquee-scroll/...) and observing response presence. Public plugin directories and passive scanning (Shodan dorks above) support mass identification. The attacker must also obtain or already possess valid high-privilege credentials (PR:H), limiting mass exploitation to insider, credential-stuffing, or post-compromise scenarios.

2. Triggering the flaw class. Once authenticated with sufficient privileges, the attacker locates the plugin functionality that builds an SQL query from user-supplied input. The plugin lacks the neutralization required by CWE-89, so input reaching that query is interpreted as SQL syntax rather than data. Because the injection is blind, the attacker cannot simply union arbitrary output; instead they craft conditional payloads.

3. Payload / execution method (class level). The attacker submits crafted input containing SQL logic. With boolean-based blind technique, the payload embeds a conditional (e.g., an AND clause whose truth value depends on a database-derived condition), and the attacker distinguishes true from false by the differing application response. With time-based blind technique, the payload injects a conditional delay so that a measurable response-time difference reveals the truth value of the embedded condition. By iterating character-by-character, the attacker reconstructs database contents (e.g., table names, user records, credential hashes). No specific function names, parameters, or endpoints are asserted here due to absence of technical detail in the source data.

4. Post-exploitation impact. Reconstructed sensitive data — including WordPress user records, password hashes, and any plugin-stored data — is exfiltrated out-of-band via attacker-controlled inference. Given Scope:Changed and Confidentiality:High, the exposure can extend to data managed by WordPress core and co-installed components rather than being confined to the plugin's own tables.

Impact Assessment

The primary impact is confidentiality compromise of the WordPress database reachable through the injected query. In a typical deployment this includes the wp_users table (usernames, email addresses, bcrypt/phpass password hashes) and, depending on injected query reach and database user permissions, potentially other plugin, theme, and core tables. Exposed password hashes are directly monetizable: they enable offline cracking and subsequent credential reuse across the organization.

The Scope:Changed (S:C) rating elevates severity because the compromised plugin acts as a pivot: data belonging to security domains outside the plugin's own authority becomes accessible. Combined with Confidentiality:High, the practical blast radius is "all data the WordPress database user can read." The Availability:Low subscore reflects the possibility of minor service degradation from resource-intensive timing probes, not a destructive or denial-of-service capability.

The high privilege requirement (PR:H) is the principal mitigating factor: unauthenticated attackers cannot exploit this directly, so the affected population is limited to sites where an attacker already holds elevated WordPress access, or can obtain it via credential theft, credential stuffing, or a separate privilege-escalation flaw. Business impact therefore concentrates in confidentiality/regulatory terms (PII and credential exposure leading to GDPR/CCPA notification obligations) rather than broad, opportunistic mass exploitation. As of this report, there is no CISA KEV listing, no public PoC, and no EPSS score published by FIRST.org. Patch confidence stands at 0/4 — UNPATCHED.

Detection Guidance

The following rules target SQL injection indicators and WordPress plugin access patterns. Given the blind nature of the flaw and the lack of disclosed parameters, rules emphasize generic SQLi signatures, plugin asset access, and anomalous timing/error patterns; tune to your environment.

Sigma Rule

title: Potential Blind SQL Injection Attempt Against Post Title Marquee Scroll WordPress Plugin
id: 3f9c1a42-7b6e-4d21-9c3a-0e5b8a1d2f77
status: experimental
description: Detects SQL injection metacharacters and time-based/boolean payload patterns in web requests targeting the WordPress plugin post-title-marquee-scroll
references:
  - https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42713
author: Threat Intelligence
date: 2026/01/01
logsource:
  category: webserver
  product: apache
detection:
  selection_uri:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - 'post-title-marquee-scroll'
  selection_sqli:
    cs-uri-query|contains:
      - "'"
      - "UNION SELECT"
      - "AND 1=1"
      - "AND 1=2"
      - "SLEEP("
      - "BENCHMARK("
      - "WAITFOR DELAY"
      - "OR 1=1"
  condition: selection_uri and selection_sqli
falsepositives:
  - Legitimate administrative queries containing apostrophes
  - Security scanners in authorized testing
level: high

YARA Rule

rule CVE_2026_42713_Blind_SQLi_Probe
{
    meta:
        description = "Detects blind SQL injection payload patterns associated with CVE-2026-42713 targeting the post-title-marquee-scroll WordPress plugin"
        author = "Threat Intelligence"
        reference = "https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42713"
        date = "2026-01-01"
        severity = "high"

    strings:
        $plugin = "post-title-marquee-scroll" ascii nocase

        $sqli_boolean = /AND\s+1\s*=\s*1/ ascii nocase
        $sqli_boolean2 = /OR\s+1\s*=\s*1/ ascii nocase
        $sqli_time = /SLEEP\s*\(/ ascii nocase
        $sqli_time2 = /BENCHMARK\s*\(/ ascii nocase
        $sqli_union = /UNION\s+SELECT/ ascii nocase
        $sqli_comment = /--\s/ ascii

    condition:
        $plugin and any of ($sqli_*)
}

Suricata IDS Rule

alert http any any -> any any (msg:"CVE-2026-42713 Blind SQL Injection Attempt - WordPress post-title-marquee-scroll Plugin"; flow:established,to_server; http.uri; content:"post-title-marquee-scroll"; nocase; http.uri; pcre:"/(UNION[\s\+]+SELECT|AND[\s\+]+1=1|OR[\s\+]+1=1|SLEEP\(|BENCHMARK\(|WAITFOR[\s\+]+DELAY)/Ri"; classtype:web-application-attack; reference:cve,2026-42713; reference:url,nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42713; sid:2026427130; rev:1;)

Elastic Detection

sequence by source.ip with maxspan=30s
  [http where url.path : "*post-title-marquee-scroll*" and url.query : ("*UNION SELECT*", "*AND 1=1*", "*OR 1=1*", "*SLEEP(*")]

Splunk SPL Query

index=web sourcetype=access_combined OR sourcetype=apache:access
| eval uri_lower = lower(uri)
| where like(uri_lower, "%post-title-marquee-scroll%")
| eval sqli_flag = case(
    match(uri_lower, "(union\s+select|and\s+1=1|or\s+1=1|sleep\(|benchmark\(|waitfor\s+delay|%27|%2527)"), "SQLi_INDICATOR",
    true(), "benign")
| where sqli_flag = "SQLi_INDICATOR"
| stats count min(_time) as first_seen max(_time) as last_seen values(sqli_flag) as flags by clientip, uri
| where count >= 1
| sort - count

Wazuh OSSEC Rule

<group name="web,wordpress,sqli,">
  <rule id="2026427" level="10">
    <if_sid>31100</if_sid>
    <id>^GET|^POST</id>
    <match>post-title-marquee-scroll</match>
    <regex type="pcre2">(UNION\s+SELECT|AND\s+1=1|OR\s+1=1|SLEEP\(|BENCHMARK\(|WAITFOR\s+DELAY)</regex>
    <description>CVE-2026-42713: Potential blind SQL injection against WordPress post-title-marquee-scroll plugin</description>
    <mitre>
      <id>T1190</id>
    </mitre>
    <group>cve_2026_42713,attack.sql_injection,</group>
  </rule>
</group>

Mitigation & Patch Guidance

Patch confidence: 0/4 (UNPATCHED). No vendor fix, no workaround, and no OSV-tracked package fix are recorded for this CVE. No fixed version has been published as of this report; affected range is all versions through 9.9.

1. Immediate mitigations.

   • If the plugin is not business-critical, deactivate and remove Post title marquee scroll (slug post-title-marquee-scroll) entirely; this eliminates the attack surface.
   • If it must remain active, restrict access: implement WAF rules (managed SQLi rulesets) blocking SQL metacharacters and the plugin path, and apply IP allow-listing so only trusted administrators can reach plugin functionality.
   • Enforce least privilege: audit WordPress user roles and remove unnecessary high-privilege (administrator/editor) accounts, since exploitation requires PR:H. Enable strong authentication and MFA on all elevated accounts to reduce the Post Exploitation risk of credential theft.
   • Harden the database account used by WordPress (read-only where feasible; disallow stacked queries), limiting the blast radius of Scope:Changed exposure.

2. Patch / upgrade steps.

   • Monitor the plugin's WordPress.org listing and the vendor (Gopiplus) channels for a patched release addressing CVE-2026-42713. No fixed version exists yet.
   • When a fix is published, upgrade to the vendor-released patched version, verify the change, and re-scan. Until then, treat the plugin as unsupported for this defect.
   • If no fix is forthcoming, migrate to an actively maintained, parameterized alternative for the same marquee/title functionality.

3. Long-term hardening.

   • Adopt a vulnerability-management process that tracks WordPress plugin CVEs against an inventory; retire end-of-life or unmaintained plugins.
   • Enforce secure development practices (parameterized queries / $wpdb->prepare() for any custom SQL) for any in-house plugin code.
   • Deploy continuous web-log monitoring with the Suricata/Splunk/Sigma/Wazuh detections above, and conduct periodic authenticated scans to catch plugin-level injection flaws.
   • Maintain layered controls (WAF, least-privilege DB accounts, MFA, backups) so that a single plugin flaw cannot cause Scope:Changed database exposure.

References

• NVD — CVE-2026-42713: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2026-42713
• CWE-89: Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection'): https://cwe.mitre.org/data/definitions/89.html
• WordPress Plugin Directory — Post title marquee scroll (post-title-marquee-scroll): https://wordpress.org/plugins/post-title-marquee-scroll/
• FIRST.org EPSS (CVE not yet scored as of this report): https://www.first.org/epss/
• CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog (CVE not listed as of this report): https://www.cisa.gov/known-exploited-vulnerabilities-catalog

No public PoC, exploit code, nuclei template, or CISA KEV entry exists for CVE-2026-42713 as of this report. No threat-actor campaign or in-the-wild exploitation evidence is currently available. Patch confidence is 0/4 (UNPATCHED).