Description

Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in DevItems HashBar – WordPress Notification Bar allows Blind SQL Injection. This issue affects HashBar – WordPress Notification Bar: from n/a through 2.0.3.

Executive Summary

Technical Details

Mitigations

References

Additional Metadata

{
  "score": "7.6",
  "pubDate": "2026-09-22T10:17:10.167Z",
  "pubdate": "2026-09-22T10:17:10.167Z",
  "executiveSummary": "The HashBar – WordPress Notification Bar plugin, specifically versions 2.0.3 and below, contains an Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command (CWE-89) vulnerability. This flaw enables Blind SQL Injection (SQLi), allowing unauthenticated or authenticated attackers to interfere with the underlying database queries executed by the plugin.\nThe vulnerability poses a severe risk to the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of the WordPress site. By injecting malicious SQL payloads, an attacker can extract sensitive information from the database, including user credentials, configuration details, and protected content. Because this is a blind injection vector, an attacker can systematically exfiltrate data by observing time-based delays or boolean responses from the application. This vulnerability does not require administrative privileges, significantly expanding the attack surface for remote malicious actors targeting vulnerable WordPress installations.",
  "technicalDetails": "The vulnerability resides in the improper handling of user-supplied input before it is incorporated into SQL queries executed by the HashBar – WordPress Notification Bar plugin. The core issue is an insufficient implementation of parameterized queries or adequate input sanitization/escaping mechanisms for parameters processed by the plugin's backend functions.\nThe exploitation flow typically begins when an attacker identifies an unsanitized input vector (e.g., URL parameters, form fields, or header values) that the plugin passes directly to a database query function. In a Blind SQL Injection scenario, the application does not necessarily output database errors or query results directly to the user interface. Instead, the attacker leverages the vulnerability by injecting conditional SQL statements that cause the application to behave differently based on whether the injected condition evaluates to true or false. This is often achieved through boolean-based inference or time-based payloads (e.g., using SLEEP() or BENCHMARK() functions).\nStep-by-step exploitation involves:\n1. Reconnaissance: The attacker identifies the entry point in the HashBar plugin that interacts with the database.\n2. Injection: The attacker crafts a payload designed to ask the database a question (e.g., 'Does the first character of the database version start with '5'?').\n3. Inference: The attacker observes the response time or the presence/absence of certain elements in the HTTP response to confirm the truth value of their query.\n4. Exfiltration: By iterating through character sets using this inference technique, the attacker can systematically reconstruct database contents, including table names, column names, and sensitive record data like password hashes from the wp_users table.\nThe vulnerability affects all versions up to 2.0.3. Since the plugin's interaction with the database occurs during the request-handling lifecycle, the attack is fully executable over a standard network connection. No administrative privileges are required to initiate the attack, as the vulnerable code paths are accessible via public-facing plugin features. Successful exploitation results in unauthorized data access and potential escalation of privileges if administrative credentials are recovered from the database."
}