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Contest GalleryWordPress extension

CVE-2022-36394

HIGH · 8.8 CVSS v3.1 Published 2022-08-23
Fix available
A fix is available. Upgrade to after 17.0.4 or later.
See remediation →
94/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable Zero-click

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 · unedited
Authenticated (author+) SQL Injection (SQLi) vulnerability in Contest Gallery plugin <= 17.0.4 at WordPress.

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 confidence

Authenticated SQL injection vulnerability in WordPress Contest Gallery plugin allows users with author or higher privileges to inject malicious SQL queries through unsanitized input parameters, potentially enabling data exfiltration or database compromise.

MitigationUpdate Contest Gallery plugin to version greater than 17.0.4. If immediate update is not possible, restrict user permissions to below author level until patch can be applied.

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
Contest GalleryWordPress extension
Affected:<= 17.0.4

CVSS 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
Low
User interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/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 checks

Work through these to decide whether this CVE applies to you.

  1. Check Contest Gallery plugin version
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and locate Contest Gallery. The version number is displayed below the plugin name. Alternatively, check the plugin files in wp-content/plugins/contest-gallery/ or query the WordPress options table for the active version.
    Affected if The installed version is 17.0.4 or lower.
  2. Identify users with author or higher privileges
    Go to WordPress admin > Users. Review the role column for each user. Roles at author level and above include: Author, Editor, Administrator, and any custom roles with capability level >= publish_posts.
    Affected if There are one or more users accounts with author, editor, or administrator role.
  3. Verify Contest Gallery is active
    In WordPress admin > Plugins, confirm Contest Gallery shows as 'Active'. Also check if any contest galleries are published by visiting pages where the [contest_gallery] shortcode is used.
    Affected if The plugin is active and contest galleries are in use on the site.
  4. Review access logs for SQL injection patterns
    Examine web server access logs (Apache/nginx) and WordPress debug logs for unusual SQL syntax in requests to /wp-admin/admin-ajax.php or contest gallery endpoints. Look for UNION SELECT, OR 1=1, or other SQL keywords in query parameters.
    Affected if Suspicious SQL patterns are found in requests originating from authenticated users with author+ privileges.

The environment is affected if Contest Gallery plugin version is 17.0.4 or lower AND the site has at least one user with author-level or higher privileges, making the SQL injection exploitable.

Generated from the published advisory. Verify against your own configuration.

Check your environment

Paste your version and any relevant configuration and it will be compared against the affected criteria above. Do not include secrets or credentials.

AI-assisted, checked against the advisory. Informational, not a guarantee.

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 · scoped
Upgrade available Upgrade to a release after 17.0.4
Interim mitigation

Update Contest Gallery plugin to version greater than 17.0.4. If immediate update is not possible, restrict user permissions to below author level until patch can be applied.

Recommended fix High confidence

Contest Gallery 17.0.5 or latest available version

  1. 1. Log in to the WordPress admin dashboard with an account having administrator privileges.
  2. 2. Navigate to the 'Plugins' page from the left sidebar.
  3. 3. Locate 'Contest Gallery' in the list of installed plugins.
  4. 4. If an update is available, click 'Update Now' next to the plugin, or navigate to 'Updates' and select Contest Gallery to update.
  5. 5. Alternatively, download the latest version of Contest Gallery from wordpress.org and upload it via Plugins > Add New > Upload Plugin.
  6. 6. After updating, verify the plugin is running version 17.0.5 or higher under Plugins > Installed Plugins.

Generated from the published advisory — verify against the referenced sources before acting.

Fix this in Contest Gallery Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation2.0 h
  • Implementation2.0 h
  • Testing2.0 h
  • Review / QA1.0 h
7.0 hours of engineering $1,240
Get the upgrade done

An estimate, not a bill — we confirm scope with you before any work starts. Need it this week? Rush from $1,984.

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References Go to the primary sourcePrimary sources — vendor advisories, patches and trackers. Where our summary and a reference disagree, the reference wins.

Primary sources

Practitioner notes

Contributed

Peer-ranked notes from engineers who’ve handled CVE-2022-36394 in production — separate from our analysis above.

No notes yet

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What this is

A place for practitioners to share what actually worked: a mitigation you’ve tested, a configuration change, a version- or environment-specific caveat, or a link to a verified patch. The most useful notes rise to the top as peers upvote them, so the signal stays high.

What belongs here
  • 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
  • No spam, self-promotion, credentials, or personal data