CVE-2024-13478 is a SQL Injection vulnerability identified in the WordPress plugin LTL Freight Quotes – TForce Edition, versions up to and including 3.6.4. The root cause is insufficient escaping and lack of proper preparation of SQL queries involving the 'dropship_edit_id' and 'edit_id' parameters. These parameters accept user-supplied input that is directly concatenated into SQL statements without adequate sanitization or use of parameterized queries, violating CWE-89 standards. This flaw allows unauthenticated remote attackers to append arbitrary SQL commands to existing queries, potentially extracting sensitive information such as customer data, freight quotes, or other confidential database contents. The vulnerability does not require any authentication or user interaction, making it easier to exploit remotely over the network. While no public exploits have been observed, the vulnerability's nature and the plugin's usage in freight and logistics environments pose a significant risk. The CVSS v3.1 score of 7.5 reflects a high severity due to network attack vector, low attack complexity, no privileges required, and high confidentiality impact. The vulnerability does not affect data integrity or availability directly but compromises confidentiality by exposing sensitive data. No official patches are currently linked, so mitigation involves applying vendor updates when released or implementing strict input validation and prepared statements to prevent injection. Organizations using this plugin should audit their systems and monitor for suspicious database activity.

The primary impact of CVE-2024-13478 is the unauthorized disclosure of sensitive information stored in the backend database of affected WordPress sites using the LTL Freight Quotes – TForce Edition plugin. Attackers can exploit this vulnerability to extract customer data, freight pricing, shipment details, and potentially other confidential business information. This can lead to data breaches, loss of customer trust, regulatory compliance violations (such as GDPR or CCPA), and financial losses. Since the vulnerability is exploitable without authentication, any exposed site is at risk of compromise. Although it does not directly affect data integrity or availability, attackers could leverage the extracted data for further attacks, social engineering, or competitive espionage. Organizations in logistics, freight forwarding, and supply chain sectors relying on this plugin are particularly vulnerable. The widespread use of WordPress globally means the scope of affected systems could be large, increasing the potential impact on a global scale.

1. Monitor the vendor’s official channels for a security patch and apply it immediately upon release. 2. Until a patch is available, implement web application firewall (WAF) rules to detect and block SQL injection attempts targeting the 'dropship_edit_id' and 'edit_id' parameters. 3. Employ strict input validation on these parameters, allowing only expected numeric or alphanumeric values and rejecting any suspicious input patterns. 4. Modify the plugin’s code to use parameterized queries or prepared statements instead of directly concatenating user input into SQL commands. 5. Conduct regular security audits and database activity monitoring to detect unusual query patterns or data access. 6. Limit database user permissions to the minimum necessary to reduce the impact of potential exploitation. 7. Educate site administrators about the risks and signs of SQL injection attacks to improve incident response readiness. 8. Consider isolating or disabling the plugin temporarily if it is not critical to operations until a secure version is available.