CVE-2022-21664 is a medium-severity SQL Injection vulnerability affecting the WordPress content management system, specifically the wordpress-develop project. WordPress is a widely used open-source CMS written in PHP and commonly paired with MariaDB databases. The vulnerability arises from improper neutralization of special elements in SQL commands (CWE-89), where one of the classes in WordPress fails to properly sanitize user input before incorporating it into SQL queries. This flaw allows an attacker to craft malicious input that can alter the intended SQL commands executed by the database. Exploiting this vulnerability could enable unauthorized data access, modification, or deletion, potentially compromising the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the affected WordPress site’s data. The issue affects WordPress versions starting from 4.1.33 up to, but not including, 5.8.3. The vulnerability was patched in WordPress 5.8.3 and backported to security releases as far back as 4.1.34. There are no known workarounds, and auto-updates are strongly recommended to ensure the patch is applied. As of the publication date, no known exploits have been observed in the wild. The vulnerability does not require authentication or user interaction to be exploited, increasing its risk profile. However, exploitation requires the attacker to interact with the vulnerable WordPress instance, typically via HTTP requests that inject malicious SQL payloads into vulnerable parameters. Given WordPress’s extensive deployment worldwide, including Europe, this vulnerability poses a significant risk to websites that have not applied the patch or enabled automatic updates. The flaw could be leveraged to extract sensitive data such as user credentials, content, or configuration details, or to manipulate database contents, potentially leading to site defacement, data breaches, or further compromise of the hosting environment.

For European organizations, the impact of CVE-2022-21664 can be substantial due to the widespread use of WordPress across various sectors including government, education, media, and commerce. Successful exploitation could lead to unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information, including personal data protected under GDPR, resulting in regulatory penalties and reputational damage. Data integrity could be compromised, affecting the reliability of published content or transactional data. Availability may also be impacted if attackers manipulate or delete critical database records, leading to service disruptions. Organizations relying on WordPress for public-facing websites or internal portals are at risk of targeted attacks that could serve as entry points for broader network compromise. The lack of known exploits in the wild suggests limited active exploitation currently, but the ease of exploitation and the absence of required authentication mean that opportunistic attackers or automated scanning tools could rapidly identify and exploit unpatched instances. This elevates the urgency for European organizations to remediate promptly to avoid potential data breaches and operational impacts.

1. Immediate upgrade of all WordPress installations to version 5.8.3 or later, or apply the relevant security patches if using older supported versions. 2. Enable and verify that automatic updates are active to ensure timely application of future security patches. 3. Conduct an audit of all WordPress instances within the organization to identify any running vulnerable versions, including staging and development environments. 4. Implement Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) with rules specifically designed to detect and block SQL injection attempts targeting WordPress parameters. 5. Review and harden database user permissions to limit the scope of potential SQL injection damage, ensuring WordPress database users have only necessary privileges. 6. Monitor web server and application logs for unusual or suspicious query patterns indicative of SQL injection attempts. 7. Employ input validation and sanitization best practices in any custom WordPress plugins or themes to prevent similar vulnerabilities. 8. Develop and test incident response plans to quickly address potential exploitation events. 9. Consider deploying runtime application self-protection (RASP) solutions that can detect and block injection attacks in real time. 10. Educate web administrators and developers about the risks of SQL injection and the importance of patch management.