List Category Posts WordPress Plugin SQL Injection Vulnerability

A time-based SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in the List Category Posts plugin for WordPress, affecting all versions through 0.91.0. The issue arises from inadequate escaping of user-supplied data in the 'starting_with' parameter of the catlist shortcode, coupled with a lack of proper preparation in the SQL query. This vulnerability allows authenticated attackers with Contributor-level access or higher to inject additional SQL commands into existing queries, potentially leading to the extraction of sensitive information from the database.

Impact

Exploitation of this vulnerability allows for time-based SQL injection, where an attacker can manipulate SQL queries to extract sensitive data from the database.

Reproduction

To reproduce this vulnerability, an authenticated user with Contributor-level access or higher can use the catlist shortcode with the 'starting_with' parameter. The plugin will process the parameter without proper sanitization, allowing the injection of malicious SQL that could be executed by the database.

Remediation

Users are advised to update the List Category Posts plugin to version 0.92.0 or later.