# CVE-2021-24295: Time-based Blind SQL Injection in Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk < 5.153.4

> Unauthenticated attackers can perform time-based blind SQL injection via manipulated cookies in the CleanTalk WordPress plugin, allowing data extraction.

- **Severity:** High 7.5 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 17 May 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-3897-7ph5-mf8c

## What is CVE-2021-24295?

CVE-2021-24295 is a high-severity SQL injection vulnerability in СleanTalk Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk, published on 17 May 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

It was possible to exploit an Unauthenticated Time-Based Blind SQL Injection vulnerability in the Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk WordPress Plugin before 5.153.4. The update_log function in lib/Cleantalk/ApbctWP/Firewall/SFW.php included a vulnerable query that could be injected via the User-Agent Header by manipulating the cookies set by the Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk WordPress plugin before 5.153.4, sending an initial request to obtain a ct_sfw_pass_key cookie and then manually setting a separate ct_sfw_passed cookie and disallowing it from being reset.

Weakness: CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command)

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-24295?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Cleantalk Spam Protection\, Antispam\, Firewall.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-24295?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-24295 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-24295 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2021-24295 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk < 5.153.4 - Unauthenticated Blind SQL Injection (nuclei): http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-24295.yaml

## Other vulnerabilities in СleanTalk Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk

- [CVE-2024-10781](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2024-10781/): Missing authorization in Spam protection, Honeypot, Anti-Spam by CleanTalk (high 8.1)
- [CVE-2022-3302](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2022-3302/): Anti-Spam by CleanTalk < 5.185.1 - Admin+ SQLi (high 7.2)
- [CVE-2019-17515](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2019-17515/): Cross-site scripting in n/a (medium 6.1)
- [CVE-2023-51535](https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2023-51535/): Cross-site request forgery in Spam protection, Anti-Spam, FireWall by CleanTalk (medium 4.3)

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-24295 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-24295 is a high-severity SQL injection vulnerability in СleanTalk Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk, published on 17 May 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.
Exploitation: It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2021-24295 exists.

Affected product: СleanTalk Spam protection, AntiSpam, FireWall by CleanTalk. No package-level version data is available, so check the vendor advisory linked from the reference page.

Task:
1. Search the dependency manifests and lockfiles (for example package.json, package-lock.json, requirements.txt, poetry.lock, uv.lock, pom.xml, build.gradle, go.mod, Cargo.lock, Gemfile.lock) and any Dockerfiles for the affected packages, including transitive dependencies.
2. If an affected version is in use, upgrade it to the fixed version for its release line with the project's package manager, so the lockfile is regenerated. Prefer the smallest upgrade that fixes it.
3. If there is no fix, or the upgrade would break the build, do not guess: explain the risk and the safest workaround instead.
4. Run the tests and summarise what changed and why.
5. If nothing in the project is affected, say so and change nothing.

Reference: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24295/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24295/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24295
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24295
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-24295

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24295/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.