CVE-2019-9053 in CMS Made Simple
Summary
by MITRE
An issue was discovered in CMS Made Simple 2.2.8. It is possible with the News module, through a crafted URL, to achieve unauthenticated blind time-based SQL injection via the m1_idlist parameter.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 11/18/2025
The vulnerability identified as CVE-2019-9053 represents a critical security flaw within CMS Made Simple version 2.2.8 that specifically affects the News module functionality. This issue stems from inadequate input validation and sanitization mechanisms within the application's parameter handling system. The vulnerability manifests when a malicious actor constructs a specially crafted URL that targets the m1_idlist parameter, which is processed by the News module without proper security controls. This particular weakness allows for unauthenticated blind time-based SQL injection attacks, where attackers can exploit the vulnerability without requiring any prior login credentials or authentication tokens.
The technical exploitation of this vulnerability follows a time-based SQL injection pattern where the attacker can infer database contents by measuring response times from the server. The m1_idlist parameter serves as the attack vector because it directly influences how the News module processes database queries without proper sanitization or parameter binding. When the application processes this parameter, it constructs SQL statements that are vulnerable to manipulation through crafted input sequences. The vulnerability is classified as blind because the attacker cannot directly observe database content through error messages or direct query results, but must instead rely on timing variations in server responses to determine successful injection attempts. This approach aligns with CWE-89 which specifically addresses SQL injection vulnerabilities where improper input validation leads to unauthorized database access.
The operational impact of this vulnerability extends beyond simple data theft or manipulation, as it enables attackers to potentially escalate privileges and gain deeper system access. An attacker with knowledge of this vulnerability can perform extensive reconnaissance against the database backend, extract sensitive information such as user credentials, configuration details, and other valuable data stored within the CMS. The unauthenticated nature of this attack means that any visitor to the website can potentially exploit this vulnerability, making it particularly dangerous for publicly accessible content management systems. The time-based nature of the injection also allows for automated exploitation tools to systematically test and extract information without requiring immediate visual feedback, which aligns with techniques documented in the ATT&CK framework under the T1213 sub-technique for Data from Information Repositories.
Mitigation strategies for CVE-2019-9053 should focus on immediate patching of the CMS Made Simple application to version 2.2.9 or later, which contains the necessary security fixes for this vulnerability. Organizations should also implement input validation measures at the application level to sanitize all user-supplied parameters before processing, particularly those used in database query construction. Network-level protections such as web application firewalls can help detect and block malicious requests targeting this specific vulnerability pattern. Additionally, database access controls should be reviewed to ensure that the CMS database user account has minimal required privileges, following the principle of least privilege. Regular security audits and vulnerability assessments should be conducted to identify similar issues in other components of the CMS ecosystem, as this vulnerability demonstrates the importance of proper parameter handling and input validation in preventing SQL injection attacks. The fix implemented in the patched version addresses the core issue by properly sanitizing the m1_idlist parameter and implementing appropriate parameter binding techniques to prevent malicious SQL code execution.