Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
CVE-2022-36394 is a high-severity SQL injection flaw in the WordPress Contest Gallery plugin through version 17.0.4. An attacker needs an authenticated WordPress account with author-level privileges or higher, but successful abuse could expose sensitive database information and make limited data changes.
Executive priority
Prioritize remediation for public WordPress sites using this plugin, especially where many users have author privileges. This is not unauthenticated internet-wide exposure, but it can become serious if a contributor account is compromised or misused.
Technical view
The issue is CWE-89 SQL injection affecting Contest Gallery for WordPress <= 17.0.4. The CVSS 3.1 vector is AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N, indicating remote reachability, low attack complexity, high privileges required, no user interaction, changed scope, high confidentiality impact, and low integrity impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is limited to WordPress sites that have Contest Gallery installed at version 17.0.4 or earlier and where author-level or higher accounts exist. Risk increases if author accounts are broadly assigned, shared, weakly protected, or already compromised.
Exploitation context
The provided bundle does not show CISA KEV listing or any cited evidence of active exploitation. The vulnerability still matters because SQL injection can expose database data once an attacker has sufficient authenticated access.
Researcher notes
Evidence supports authenticated author-plus SQL injection, high confidentiality impact, and limited integrity impact. The bundle does not include vulnerable parameters, proof-of-concept details, exploit-in-the-wild evidence, or a named fixed version, so validation should stay version- and exposure-focused.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory WordPress sites for the Contest Gallery plugin and installed version.
- Treat Contest Gallery <= 17.0.4 as affected.
- Check Patchstack and the WordPress plugin page for vendor remediation guidance.
- Update to a fixed or current plugin release if available.
- Restrict author-level access to trusted users only.
- Review recent activity for suspicious authenticated account behavior.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Contest Gallery is installed on each WordPress site.
- Record the plugin version and compare it with <= 17.0.4.
- List users with author, editor, administrator, or equivalent permissions.
- Check security tooling for SQL injection alerts involving affected sites.
- Verify remediation by confirming the plugin is no longer an affected version.
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-2022-36394 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
- 7.6 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N
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:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N2.34.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
7.6HighVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:H/UI:N/S:C/C:H/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://patchstack.com/database/vulnerability/contest-gallery/wordpress-contest-gallery-plugin-17-0-4-authenticated-sql-injection-sqli-vulnerabilityCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
- https://wordpress.org/plugins/contest-gallery/#developersCVE reference · x_refsource_CONFIRM
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.