CVE-2026-94117 in HashBar Plugin
Summary
by MITRE • 09/22/2026
Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command ('SQL Injection') vulnerability in DevItems HashBar – WordPress Notification Bar allows Blind SQL Injection.
This issue affects HashBar – WordPress Notification Bar: from n/a through 2.0.3.
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Analysis
by VulDB Data Team • 09/22/2026
The identified security flaw represents a classic instance of Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command, commonly categorized under CWE-89 within the Common Weakness Enumeration framework. This vulnerability exists within DevItems HashBar, specifically affecting versions from n/a through 2.0.3 of the WordPress Notification Bar plugin. The core technical deficiency lies in the application's failure to properly sanitize or validate user-supplied input before incorporating it into backend database queries. When a user interacts with specific features of the notification bar configuration or display logic, their input is directly concatenated into SQL statements without adequate escaping mechanisms such as prepared statements or parameterized queries. This architectural oversight allows an attacker to inject malicious SQL code that alters the intended execution flow of the database command.
The operational impact of this vulnerability is characterized by its classification as a Blind SQL Injection attack. Unlike error-based injection where the application returns detailed database errors that reveal schema information, blind injection relies on observing subtle differences in application behavior or response times to infer data. An attacker can craft payloads that cause conditional boolean changes or time delays within the application's responses. By systematically analyzing these side-channel effects, a malicious actor can extract sensitive information from the underlying MySQL database one character at a time. This includes administrative credentials, user session tokens, and potentially other site-specific configuration data stored in the WordPress database tables associated with the plugin.
From an offensive security perspective, this vulnerability aligns with MITRE ATT&CK technique T1059.004, which covers SQL Injection as a subset of Command Line Interface exploitation for automated extraction of information. The attacker leverages standard HTTP requests to send crafted payloads that trigger database queries. Because the injection is blind, the attack requires more time and iterative probing compared to direct data retrieval methods, but it remains highly effective against systems with weak input validation practices. The persistence of this flaw across multiple versions indicates a systemic lack of secure coding standards in the plugin's development lifecycle, particularly regarding the handling of dynamic query construction.
Mitigation strategies must address both immediate remediation and long-term security hygiene. The most critical step is for administrators to update DevItems HashBar to version 2.0.4 or later, where the vendor has presumably implemented proper input validation and output encoding techniques. Until an upgrade is feasible, temporary mitigations include restricting access to WordPress admin endpoints via IP whitelisting if possible, although this does not fully mitigate risks from compromised credentials. Additionally, deploying a Web Application Firewall can help detect and block common SQL injection patterns in HTTP requests, providing a layer of defense-in-depth. Developers should adopt parameterized queries or stored procedures for all database interactions involving user input to eliminate the possibility of command injection entirely. Regular security audits and static code analysis tools focused on CWE-89 detection are also recommended to prevent similar vulnerabilities in future releases.