CVE-2026-22850 Vulnerability Analysis & Exploit Details

CVE-2026-22850
Vulnerability Scoring

8.3
/10
Severe Risk

Cybersecurity professionals consider CVE-2026-22850 an immediate threat requiring urgent mitigation.

Attack Complexity Details

  • Attack Complexity: High
    Exploits require significant effort and special conditions.
  • Attack Vector: Network
    Vulnerability is exploitable over a network without physical access.
  • Privileges Required: None
    No privileges are required for exploitation.
  • Scope: Changed
    Successful exploitation can impact components beyond the vulnerable component.
  • User Interaction: Required
    User interaction is necessary for successful exploitation.

CVE-2026-22850 Details

Status: Received on 19 Jan 2026, 17:15 UTC

Published on: 19 Jan 2026, 17:15 UTC

CVSS Release: version 3

CVSS3 Source

security-advisories@github.com

CVSS3 Type

Secondary

CVSS3 Vector

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:H/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:H/I:H/A:H

CVE-2026-22850 Vulnerability Summary

CVE-2026-22850: Koko Analytics is an open-source analytics plugin for WordPress. Versions prior to 2.1.3 are vulnerable to arbitrary SQL execution through unescaped analytics export/import and permissive admin SQL import. Unauthenticated visitors can submit arbitrary path (`pa`) and referrer (`r`) values to the public tracking endpoint in src/Resources/functions/collect.php, which stores those strings verbatim in the analytics tables. The admin export logic in src/Admin/Data_Export.php writes these stored values directly into SQL INSERT statements without escaping. A crafted path such as "),('999','x');DROP TABLE wp_users;-- breaks out of the value list. When an administrator later imports that export file, the import handler in src/Admin/Data_Import.php reads the uploaded SQL with file_get_contents, performs only a superficial header check, splits on semicolons, and executes each statement via $wpdb->query with no validation of table names or statement types. Additionally, any authenticated user with manage_koko_analytics can upload an arbitrary .sql file and have it executed in the same permissive way. Combined, attacker-controlled input flows from the tracking endpoint into exported SQL and through the import execution sink, or directly via malicious uploads, enabling arbitrary SQL execution. In a worst-case scenario, attackers can achieve arbitrary SQL execution on the WordPress database, allowing deletion of core tables (e.g., wp_users), insertion of backdoor administrator accounts, or other destructive/privilege-escalating actions. Version 2.1.3 patches the issue.

Assessing the Risk of CVE-2026-22850

Access Complexity Graph

The exploitability of CVE-2026-22850 depends on two key factors: attack complexity (the level of effort required to execute an exploit) and privileges required (the access level an attacker needs).

Exploitability Analysis for CVE-2026-22850

CVE-2026-22850 presents a challenge to exploit due to its high attack complexity, but the absence of privilege requirements still makes it a viable target for skilled attackers. A thorough security review is advised.

Understanding AC and PR

A lower complexity and fewer privilege requirements make exploitation easier. Security teams should evaluate these aspects to determine the urgency of mitigation strategies, such as patch management and access control policies.

Attack Complexity (AC) measures the difficulty in executing an exploit. A high AC means that specific conditions must be met, making an attack more challenging, while a low AC means the vulnerability can be exploited with minimal effort.

Privileges Required (PR) determine the level of system access necessary for an attack. Vulnerabilities requiring no privileges are more accessible to attackers, whereas high privilege requirements limit exploitation to authorized users with elevated access.

CVSS Score Breakdown Chart

Above is the CVSS Sub-score Breakdown for CVE-2026-22850, illustrating how Base, Impact, and Exploitability factors combine to form the overall severity rating. A higher sub-score typically indicates a more severe or easier-to-exploit vulnerability.

CIA Impact Analysis

Below is the Impact Analysis for CVE-2026-22850, showing how Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability might be affected if the vulnerability is exploited. Higher values usually signal greater potential damage.

  • Confidentiality: High
    Exploiting CVE-2026-22850 can result in unauthorized access to sensitive data, severely compromising data privacy.
  • Integrity: High
    CVE-2026-22850 could allow unauthorized modifications to data, potentially affecting system reliability and trust.
  • Availability: High
    CVE-2026-22850 can disrupt system operations, potentially causing complete denial of service (DoS).

CVE-2026-22850 References

External References

CWE Common Weakness Enumeration

CWE-89

CAPEC Common Attack Pattern Enumeration and Classification

  • Command Line Execution through SQL Injection CAPEC-108 An attacker uses standard SQL injection methods to inject data into the command line for execution. This could be done directly through misuse of directives such as MSSQL_xp_cmdshell or indirectly through injection of data into the database that would be interpreted as shell commands. Sometime later, an unscrupulous backend application (or could be part of the functionality of the same application) fetches the injected data stored in the database and uses this data as command line arguments without performing proper validation. The malicious data escapes that data plane by spawning new commands to be executed on the host.
  • Object Relational Mapping Injection CAPEC-109 An attacker leverages a weakness present in the database access layer code generated with an Object Relational Mapping (ORM) tool or a weakness in the way that a developer used a persistence framework to inject their own SQL commands to be executed against the underlying database. The attack here is similar to plain SQL injection, except that the application does not use JDBC to directly talk to the database, but instead it uses a data access layer generated by an ORM tool or framework (e.g. Hibernate). While most of the time code generated by an ORM tool contains safe access methods that are immune to SQL injection, sometimes either due to some weakness in the generated code or due to the fact that the developer failed to use the generated access methods properly, SQL injection is still possible.
  • SQL Injection through SOAP Parameter Tampering CAPEC-110 An attacker modifies the parameters of the SOAP message that is sent from the service consumer to the service provider to initiate a SQL injection attack. On the service provider side, the SOAP message is parsed and parameters are not properly validated before being used to access a database in a way that does not use parameter binding, thus enabling the attacker to control the structure of the executed SQL query. This pattern describes a SQL injection attack with the delivery mechanism being a SOAP message.
  • Expanding Control over the Operating System from the Database CAPEC-470 An attacker is able to leverage access gained to the database to read / write data to the file system, compromise the operating system, create a tunnel for accessing the host machine, and use this access to potentially attack other machines on the same network as the database machine. Traditionally SQL injections attacks are viewed as a way to gain unauthorized read access to the data stored in the database, modify the data in the database, delete the data, etc. However, almost every data base management system (DBMS) system includes facilities that if compromised allow an attacker complete access to the file system, operating system, and full access to the host running the database. The attacker can then use this privileged access to launch subsequent attacks. These facilities include dropping into a command shell, creating user defined functions that can call system level libraries present on the host machine, stored procedures, etc.
  • SQL Injection CAPEC-66 This attack exploits target software that constructs SQL statements based on user input. An attacker crafts input strings so that when the target software constructs SQL statements based on the input, the resulting SQL statement performs actions other than those the application intended. SQL Injection results from failure of the application to appropriately validate input.
  • Blind SQL Injection CAPEC-7 Blind SQL Injection results from an insufficient mitigation for SQL Injection. Although suppressing database error messages are considered best practice, the suppression alone is not sufficient to prevent SQL Injection. Blind SQL Injection is a form of SQL Injection that overcomes the lack of error messages. Without the error messages that facilitate SQL Injection, the adversary constructs input strings that probe the target through simple Boolean SQL expressions. The adversary can determine if the syntax and structure of the injection was successful based on whether the query was executed or not. Applied iteratively, the adversary determines how and where the target is vulnerable to SQL Injection.

Protect Your Infrastructure against CVE-2026-22850: Combat Critical CVE Threats

Stay updated with real-time CVE vulnerabilities and take action to secure your systems. Enhance your cybersecurity posture with the latest threat intelligence and mitigation techniques. Develop the skills necessary to defend against CVEs and secure critical infrastructures. Join the top cybersecurity professionals safeguarding today's infrastructures.

Other 5 Recently Published CVEs Vulnerabilities

  • CVE-2026-23878 – HotCRP is conference review software. Starting in commit aa20ef288828b04550950cf67c831af8a525f508 and prior to commit ceacd5f1476458792c44c6a993670...
  • CVE-2026-23845 – Mailpit is an email testing tool and API for developers. Versions prior to 1.28.3 are vulnerable to Server-Side Request Forgery (SSRF) via HTML Che...
  • CVE-2026-23843 – teklifolustur_app is a web-based PHP application that allows users to create, manage, and track quotes for their clients. Prior to commit dd082a134...
  • CVE-2026-23842 – ChatterBot is a machine learning, conversational dialog engine for creating chat bots. ChatterBot versions up to 1.2.10 are vulnerable to a denial-...
  • CVE-2026-23841 – Movary is a web application to track, rate and explore your movie watch history. Due to insufficient input validation, attackers can trigger cross-...