# CVE-2021-24915: Contest Gallery < 13.1.0.6 - Missing Access Controls to Unauthenticated SQL injection / Email Address Disclosure

> Unauthenticated attackers can perform SQL injection to extract user data and potentially execute code via the Contest Gallery WordPress plugin.

- **Severity:** Critical 9.8 (`CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H`)
- **Exploited in the wild:** Not known
- **Login needed:** Not needed
- **Attackable:** Over the internet
- **Victim action needed:** Not needed
- **Fix available:** No
- **Published:** 29 Nov 2021
- **Updated:** 3 Aug 2024
- **Also known as:** GHSA-986q-37xh-j7h2

## What is CVE-2021-24915?

CVE-2021-24915 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability in Unknown Contest Gallery – Photo Contest Plugin for WordPress, published on 29 Nov 2021. An attacker can exploit it over the internet without logging in, with no action from the victim.

### Official description

The Contest Gallery WordPress plugin before 13.1.0.6 does not have capability checks and does not sanitise or escape the cg-search-user-name-original parameter before using it in a SQL statement when exporting users from a gallery, which could allow unauthenticated to perform SQL injections attacks, as well as get the list of all users registered on the blog, including their username and email address

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

## Which versions are affected by CVE-2021-24915?

It affects 1 product.


Products: Contest Gallery Contest Gallery.

## How do I fix CVE-2021-24915?

No fix has been published for CVE-2021-24915 yet. Limit exposure of the affected software until one is available.

## Is CVE-2021-24915 being exploited?

It is not confirmed as exploited in the wild, but public exploit code for CVE-2021-24915 exists.

Public exploit code:

- Contest Gallery < 13.1.0.6 - SQL injection (nuclei): http/cves/2021/CVE-2021-24915.yaml

## Fix prompt for AI coding agents

```text
Check this codebase for CVE-2021-24915 and fix it if it is affected.

What it is: CVE-2021-24915 is a critical SQL injection vulnerability in Unknown Contest Gallery – Photo Contest Plugin for WordPress, published on 29 Nov 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-2021-24915 exists.

Affected product: Unknown Contest Gallery – Photo Contest Plugin for WordPress. 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-2021-24915/ (Markdown: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24915/index.md)
```

## Sources

- CVE record: https://www.cve.org/CVERecord?id=CVE-2021-24915
- NVD: https://nvd.nist.gov/vuln/detail/CVE-2021-24915
- OSV: https://osv.dev/vulnerability/CVE-2021-24915

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From sbomify Insights: https://insights.sbomify.com/CVE-2021-24915/
Summaries are generated and may contain mistakes; the official description above is the record.