Description

Unauthenticated SQL Injection in TheGem (Elementor) <= 5.12.3 versions.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "9.3",
  "pubDate": "2026-08-20T12:16:34.563Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-08-20T12:16:34.563Z",
  "executiveSummary": "An unauthenticated SQL injection vulnerability has been identified in TheGem (Elementor) versions 5.12.3 and below. This security flaw allows remote, unauthenticated attackers to inject arbitrary SQL commands into the underlying database through vulnerable input parameters handled by the application. Successful exploitation of this vulnerability can lead to unauthorized access to sensitive database contents, including application data, user credentials, and potentially administrative records. Depending on the database configuration and underlying privileges, an attacker may be able to read, modify, or delete database information, or execute administrative operations. The high severity of this vulnerability stems from the absence of authentication requirements, allowing any remote threat actor with network access to the target web application to execute database queries directly without prior interaction or credentials. Mitigation requires updating the affected product to a patched version once available or implementing strict input validation and parameterized queries in the vulnerable component.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides in TheGem (Elementor) versions <= 5.12.3, specifically within the input handling mechanisms that process user-supplied parameters without proper sanitization, validation, or parameterization before incorporating them into database queries. The root cause is classic SQL injection, occurring where dynamic SQL statements are constructed using untrusted data inputs.\nNetwork exposure is fully external, as the vulnerable endpoints are accessible over standard HTTP and HTTPS protocols to any unauthenticated client interacting with the web application. Authentication requirements are entirely absent, meaning no valid user session or privilege level is necessary to initiate the attack vector.\nThe attack flow proceeds as follows: First, the adversary identifies the vulnerable input parameter exposed by the application components associated with TheGem (Elementor). Second, the attacker crafts a malicious payload containing SQL command structures designed to manipulate the logical execution of the backend database query. Third, the attacker transmits this crafted HTTP request containing the payload to the server. Fourth, the vulnerable component processes the request and concatenates the unsanitized input directly into a SQL query string executed by the database management system (DBMS). Finally, the database executes the altered query, returning unauthorized data sets or performing unintended database modifications back through the application interface or resulting in application error states indicative of successful injection.\nPost-exploitation impact includes full database enumeration, extraction of sensitive hashes, potential privilege escalation via manipulation of user tables, and in severely misconfigured environments, interaction with the underlying operating system through database features."
}