PrestashopCMS
CVE-2021-43789
Official description Straight from the sourceThe vendor's or NVD's own wording, published unedited. Authoritative, but often terse — it says what broke, rarely what to do.
NVD · uneditedPrestaShop is an Open Source e-commerce web application. Versions of PrestaShop prior to 1.7.8.2 are vulnerable to blind SQL injection using search filters with `orderBy` and `sortOrder` parameters. The problem is fixed in version 1.7.8.2.
Technical summary Written by usOur analysis, written from the advisory, the CVSS vector and the affected-version data. It adds context the advisory leaves out, and never invents facts that are not in the source.
dbcve analysis · high confidencePrestaShop versions prior to 1.7.8.2 contain a blind SQL injection vulnerability in the search filtering functionality. The vulnerability is triggered through the `orderBy` and `sortOrder` parameters, allowing attackers to inject malicious SQL queries. This is a critical severity (CVSS 9.8) issue that could lead to unauthorized database access, data exfiltration, or complete system compromise.
Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.
Affected products & versions What the vendor confirmedThe version ranges the vendor confirmed as vulnerable. If your version sits inside a range here, treat yourself as exposed until you have upgraded.
NVD · CPE data
PrestashopCMS
>= 1.7.5.0, < 1.7.8.2CVSS breakdown How the score is builtThe industry scoring standard. It rates how the flaw is reached, what it takes to exploit, and what an attacker gains — the score is derived from those, not the other way round.
From the vector- Attack vector
- Network
- Complexity
- Low
- Privileges
- None
- User interaction
- None
- Scope
- Unchanged
- Confidentiality
- High
- Integrity
- High
- Availability
- High
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
Am I affected? How to checkSteps we derive from the advisory and the affected-version data, so you can decide whether this CVE reaches your setup. They are a guide, not a scan — your own configuration is the authority.
dbcve checksWork through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.
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Check installed PrestaShop versionLocate the changelog file (typically at docs/changelog.xml or in the admin panel under Advanced Parameters > Configuration Information) to identify the current PrestaShop version numberAffected if The installed version is 1.7.5.0 or higher but lower than 1.7.8.2
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Verify the search filtering module is activeIn the PrestaShop admin panel, navigate to Modules > Module Manager and confirm that the product search or search filter module is installed and enabledAffected if The search/filtering functionality is enabled and accessible on the storefront
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Check for exposed orderBy and sortOrder parametersExamine the search results page URL structure on the storefront (typically product listing pages with sorting options) to see if 'orderBy' and 'sortOrder' parameters appear in the query stringAffected if These parameters are present and user-controllable in the URL without server-side validation
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Inspect application logs for suspicious SQL syntaxReview web server access logs and PrestaShop debug logs for unusual patterns in orderBy/sortOrder parameters, such as quotes, UNION statements, or boolean-based sleep commandsAffected if Logs show malformed or suspicious input being passed to these parameters
A PrestaShop installation is affected if it runs version 1.7.5.0 through 1.7.8.1 with the search filtering feature enabled and the orderBy/sortOrder parameters exposed without sanitization.
Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.
Remediation Closing itWhat it takes to close this. Where a vendor fix exists we point at it; where none exists we say so plainly, and can build one. Effort estimates are scoped from the advisory, not from your codebase.
dbcve · scoped1.7.8.2
Upgrade PrestaShop to version 1.7.8.2 or later to remediate the SQL injection vulnerability. If immediate upgrading is not feasible, implement input validation and sanitization on the `orderBy` and `sortOrder` parameters as a temporary mitigation.
1.7.8.2
- 1. Create a complete backup of your PrestaShop installation including all files and the database
- 2. Put your store in maintenance mode to prevent user access during upgrade
- 3. Download PrestaShop version 1.7.8.2 from the official PrestaShop releases page (github.com/PrestaShop/PrestaShop/releases)
- 4. Extract the downloaded archive and upload all files to your server, overwriting existing files
- 5. Preserve your custom configuration files (especially config/settings.inc.php) and themes/modules
- 6. Clear all cache directories (var/cache and var/cache_ps16 directories)
- 7. Run any database migration scripts included in the upgrade
- 8. Test the fix by verifying that the orderBy and sortOrder parameters no longer accept malicious SQL input
Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.
Fix this in Prestashop
Scoped from the published advisory
- Consultation3.0 h
- Implementation4.0 h
- Testing6.0 h
- Review / QA3.0 h
An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $4,416.
Scan for this in your stack
Free · runs locallyCheck whether your project pulls in CVE-2021-43789 — or any other known-vulnerable package — straight from your lock files. Free and open source; it runs locally and uploads nothing.
References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.
Primary sourcesPractitioner notes
ContributedPeer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2021-43789 in production — separate from our analysis above.
The advisory tells you what broke. It rarely tells you what actually worked. If you’ve dealt with this one, that detail is what the next engineer is searching for.
- The version that genuinely resolved it — not the one the vendor claimed
- A config change or rule that shut the vector down
- A gotcha in the upgrade path that cost you an afternoon
No notes yet
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- Verified mitigations, workarounds, and config changes
- Version or environment caveats, and links to real fixes
- No weaponised exploit code, or anything meant to cause harm
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