Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CMS Made Simple through 2.2.15 has a high-impact SQL injection issue in News administration. A low-privileged remote user could potentially affect database confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Sources do not show CISA KEV listing or confirmed active exploitation.
Executive priority
Treat as priority remediation for any internet-facing or multi-user CMS Made Simple deployment. The business risk is unauthorized database manipulation or service disruption through a CMS administration path, with no confirmed active exploitation in the provided evidence.
Technical view
CVE-2021-28999 is CWE-89 SQL injection involving the m1_sortby parameter in modules/News/function.admin_articlestab.php. The CVSS 3.1 vector is 8.8 high: network reachable, low complexity, low privileges required, no user interaction, with high confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is most likely where CMS Made Simple 2.2.15 or earlier is deployed and authenticated users can reach the News administration article tab. The CVE data lists affected vendor/product as n/a, so asset validation must rely on application/version evidence.
Exploitation context
The provided sources describe a public SQL injection report and advisory reference, but do not establish active exploitation. CISA KEV is false in the bundle. Because privileges are required, risk concentrates around compromised, shared, or over-broad CMS admin accounts.
Researcher notes
The bundle has strong CVSS and CWE data but incomplete affected-product metadata. Validate against real application versioning, module exposure, and authentication model. Do not assume unauthenticated exploitability; the CVSS vector requires low privileges.
Mitigation direction
- Check CMS Made Simple vendor guidance for a fixed supported release; sources do not name a patch.
- Inventory CMS Made Simple instances and prioritize any version 2.2.15 or earlier.
- Restrict CMS administrative access to trusted users and networks where feasible.
- Review and reduce low-privilege administrative accounts with News management access.
- Monitor application and database logs for suspicious News administration activity.
Validation and detection
- Confirm the deployed CMS Made Simple version from application records or administrative metadata.
- Identify whether the News module administration interface is enabled and reachable.
- Review role assignments for users with access to News article administration.
- Check logs for unusual requests involving m1_sortby in News admin paths.
- Document compensating controls if immediate upgrade guidance is unavailable.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-89: Database access and collection lookup
Injection into data stores can inform collection, data access, and exfiltration detection reviews. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupDatabase behavior lookup
The CVE wording references database injection or access, so collection and exfiltration review may help. This is a Glexia inferred lookup path, not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, or CVE Program mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-28999 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- High
- CVSS
- 8.8 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H2.85.9Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
8.8HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Source materials
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection')
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.