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SQL InjectionWeakness · CWE-89

CVE-2025-39471

CRITICAL · 9.3 CVSS v3.1 Published 2025-04-18
Mitigation only
No fix yet — a mitigation exists. There is no fixed release. A documented workaround reduces exposure in the meantime.
See remediation →
100/100
Remediation priority · Urgent
Remotely reachable No privileges 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
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in pantherius Modal Survey modal-survey.This issue affects Modal Survey: from n/a through <= 2.0.2.0.1.

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 · moderate confidence

A SQL injection vulnerability exists in the Modal Survey WordPress plugin (versions up to 2.0.2.0.1) due to improper neutralization of special elements in SQL commands. An unauthenticated attacker could inject malicious SQL queries through unsanitized input fields, potentially allowing complete database compromise including extraction of sensitive data, modification of survey results, or administrative credential theft.

MitigationUpgrade Modal Survey to the latest patched version immediately. If no patched version is available, disable the plugin and implement a WAF rule blocking SQL injection attack patterns as a temporary compensating control until a fix is released.

Verify against the referenced sources before acting — the references below are authoritative for this CVE, this summary is not.

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
None
User interaction
None
Scope
Changed
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
None
Availability
Low

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

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. Confirm Modal Survey plugin is installed
    In WordPress admin, go to Plugins > Installed Plugins and look for 'Modal Survey' in the list. Alternatively, check the /wp-content/plugins/modal-survey/ directory exists on the server.
    Affected if Modal Survey plugin is present on the WordPress site
  2. Identify the installed plugin version
    In WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins, find Modal Survey and note the version number displayed below the plugin name. Or read the main plugin file (e.g., modal-survey/readme.txt or modal-survey/modal-survey.php) and look for 'Version:' entry.
    Affected if The version is 2.0.2.0.1 or any earlier version (any version up to and including 2.0.2.0.1)
  3. Verify the plugin is active
    In WordPress admin > Plugins > Installed Plugins, check if Modal Survey shows 'Activate' (inactive) or is currently enabled. Or query the WordPress options table: SELECT option_value FROM wp_options WHERE option_name = 'active_plugins';
    Affected if Modal Survey is currently activated on the site
  4. Determine if public survey forms exist
    Visit the site frontend and look for any survey forms created with Modal Survey, or check the wp_posts table for posts of type 'answer' or 'poll' associated with the plugin: SELECT * FROM wp_posts WHERE post_type IN ('answer', 'poll') AND post_status = 'publish';
    Affected if Publicly accessible survey forms are published and visible to unauthenticated users
  5. Review access logs for SQL injection attempts
    Examine web server access logs (Apache, Nginx) for requests to survey endpoints containing SQL metacharacters like ', (, ), UNION, SELECT, or common injection patterns in query parameters related to survey submissions.
    Affected if Log entries show suspicious SQL syntax in survey-related request parameters

A site is affected if Modal Survey plugin version 2.0.2.0.1 or earlier is installed, active, and has published survey forms accessible to unauthenticated users.

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.

From vendor data
Mitigation available No clean upgrade yet — mitigate in the meantime
Mitigation

Upgrade Modal Survey to the latest patched version immediately. If no patched version is available, disable the plugin and implement a WAF rule blocking SQL injection attack patterns as a temporary compensating control until a fix is released.

Have this fixed Scoped from the published advisory
  • Consultation3.0 h
  • Implementation6.0 h
  • Testing4.0 h
  • Review / QA2.0 h
15.0 hours of engineering $2,640
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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-2025-39471 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
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