Attack ChainAIDerived
Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain
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ReconObtain low-priv survey account with tokens/update
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DeliveryReach enabled RemoteControl JSON/XML-RPC endpoint
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ExploitCall invite_participants with malicious token-ID array
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InstallBreak out of tid IN ('...') clause
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C2Append stacked UPDATE on lime_users via emulated prepares
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ExecuteOverwrite administrator bcrypt hash
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ImpactLog in as global admin and exfiltrate response PII
Vulnerability Assessment
| Weakness |
CWE
OWASP Top 10:2025
A05:2025 - Injection
ASVS 5.0
V1 - Encoding and Sanitization Parameterized queries, prepared statements
MITRE ATT&CK
2 techniques across 2 tactics: Initial Access, Persistence The technique list with ATT&CK links and the kill-chain view is part of the Basic plan and up. |
| Exploitation Conditions | Exploitation requires that the LimeSurvey RemoteControl interface is explicitly enabled (RPCInterface set to 'json' or 'xml' in application/config/config.php), which is not the default configuration, and that the attacker holds a valid LimeSurvey account with the tokens/update permission on at least one survey whose token table can be targeted. The attacker must be able to reach the RemoteControl endpoint over the network and call invite_participants or remind_participants with a crafted $aTokenIds array. Stacked-query escalation specifically depends on the default PDO settings shipped by LimeSurvey (emulatePrepare = true) and a MySQL/MariaDB backend that has not had multi-statement support disabled - deployments on other database backends or with hardened PDO flags may still suffer single-statement injection but lose the ability to append arbitrary INSERT/UPDATE/DROP statements. |
| Impact | CVSS 4.0 vector (AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H) scores 8.7 and accurately reflects a network-reachable, low-complexity attack requiring only low-privilege authentication (a survey operator with the tokens/update permission) and no user interaction, yielding full confidentiality, integrity, and availability impact on the database. EPSS and CISA KEV data were not provided in the input, so probability of widespread exploitation and active-exploitation status are unconfirmed. The mitigating factor that the RemoteControl interface (RPCInterface = json/xml) is disabled by default narrows the exposed population, so this is best treated as a high-impact issue for organizations that have explicitly enabled RemoteControl - typically those automating survey/participant management - rather than a universal emergency. Tags ('SQLi', 'Oracle') and VulnCheck's advisory point to a credible time-based blind oracle technique; no public exploit identified at time of analysis. |
| Exploit ScenarioDerived | An attacker who has obtained or been granted a low-privilege LimeSurvey account with the tokens/update permission on any survey calls the invite_participants (or remind_participants) RemoteControl method and supplies a token-ID array whose element terminates the IN-clause string and appends a second statement such as UPDATE lime_users SET password=... WHERE uid=1. Because emulated prepared statements pass the concatenated payload to MySQL as a multi-statement batch, the administrator password hash is overwritten and the attacker logs in as a global admin; alternatively, a SLEEP()-based blind oracle extracts bcrypt hashes for offline cracking. No public exploit identified at time of analysis, but the patch diff publicly identifies the exact sink. |
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Alert meAnalysisAIv1 – Jun 09, 2026
SQL injection in LimeSurvey's RemoteControl API (invite_participants and remind_participants methods) allows an authenticated attacker with tokens/update permission on a survey to execute arbitrary stacked SQL queries against the application database. Because PDO emulated prepared statements are enabled and MySQL multi-statements are not disabled, attackers can read administrator bcrypt hashes via time-based blind techniques or directly overwrite credentials for instant account takeover. No public exploit identified at time of analysis; the upstream fix is published as LimeSurvey PR #5031, which replaces unsafe string concatenation with parameterized addInCondition().
RemediationAI
Upstream fix available (PR/commit); released patched version not independently confirmed - apply the change in https://github.com/LimeSurvey/LimeSurvey/pull/5031, which replaces unsafe addCondition() string concatenation with the parameterized addInCondition('tid', $aTokenIds) helper, and upgrade to the first tagged LimeSurvey release that includes that merge as soon as the vendor publishes it. Until a patched release is deployed, the highest-impact compensating control is to disable the RemoteControl interface by setting RPCInterface to off in application/config/config.php (side effect: any external automation that depends on JSON-RPC/XML-RPC will break). If RemoteControl must remain enabled, restrict access at the network layer to trusted source IPs, audit and minimize accounts that hold the tokens/update permission on surveys, and consider hardening PDO by disabling emulated prepared statements and MySQL multi-statement support so that a future injection cannot trivially escalate to stacked queries. Cross-reference the VulnCheck advisory at https://www.vulncheck.com/advisories/limesurvey-remotecontrol-invite-participants-remind-participants-sql-injection for additional vendor guidance.
Affected VersionsENISA
Affected Packages
Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)
Affects your stack
Affects 2 packages in composer, euvd
Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.
Technical ContextAI · show details
LimeSurvey is a widely deployed PHP-based open-source survey platform that exposes a JSON-RPC/XML-RPC RemoteControl API. The vulnerable sink is TokenDynamic::findUninvited() in application/models/TokenDynamic.php, which built a 'tid IN (...)' clause by implode()'ing the caller-supplied $aTokenIds array directly into SQL with no escaping (CWE-89, classic SQL injection). Compounding the flaw, LimeSurvey's PDO connection runs with emulatePrepare=true and does not toggle off MySQL multi-statement support, so a single injected payload can terminate the SELECT and append INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE/DROP/CREATE statements. The CPE cpe:2.3:a:limesurvey:limesurvey:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* covers all versions prior to the fix landed in PR #5031.
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Severity by source
CVSS:4.0/AV:N/AC:L/AT:N/PR:L/UI:N/VC:H/VI:H/VA:H/SC:N/SI:N/SA:N
Primary rating from Vendor (VulnCheck) · only source for this CVE.
CVSS VectorVendor: VulnCheck
Lifecycle Timeline
2DescriptionCVE.org
The RemoteControl API methods invite_participants and remind_participants pass a caller-supplied token-ID array into TokenDynamic::findUninvited(), which concatenates the values directly into a tid IN ('...') SQL clause without parameterization or input validation. A remote, authenticated attacker holding the tokens/update permission on a survey can inject a crafted array element to perform SQL injection. Because LimeSurvey configures its PDO connection with emulated prepared statements (emulatePrepare = true) and does not disable MySQL multi-statements, the injection supports stacked queries: the attacker can append arbitrary additional statements (INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE/DROP/CREATE) after the original SELECT. This permits both arbitrary read of any data in the database, such as administrator bcrypt password hashes (lime_users), survey response PII, session records, and global settings, all recoverable via a SLEEP() time-based blind oracle, and arbitrary write/destruction of that data, including directly overwriting the administrator password hash for immediate account takeover or dropping/truncating tables. Reads and writes extend to any schema the application's database user can access. The RemoteControl interface (RPCInterface = json/xml) must be enabled, which is not the default.
Executive ViewAI
LimeSurvey's RemoteControl API contains a SQL injection vulnerability (CVE-2026-50636, CVSS 8.7) that allows authenticated users with survey modification permissions to extract administrator credentials and gain administrative control of the platform. Organizations running LimeSurvey for survey distribution face operational and data security risk if threat actors exploit compromised or malicious survey accounts. The vulnerability requires prior authentication but enables rapid escalation to full administrative access without leaving audit trails.
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Threat Intelligence Overview
How this decision was reached
The engine reads each signal below and applies a fixed list of rules from top to bottom. The first rule that matches sets the recommended action – like a statement, every line is shown.
What every action level means
SSVC AssessmentENISA
Priority Score
Attack Technique
SQL injection exploits the way applications construct database queries by mixing user input directly into SQL statements.
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EUVD-2026-35770
GHSA-pr6f-87hf-hx24
NVD
CVE.org
EPSS
Vulnrichment
VulDB
Exploit-DB