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CiviCRM EUVDEUVD-2026-56028

| CVE-2026-72558 HIGH
SQL Injection (CWE-89)
2026-08-11 TuranSec GHSA-h3jq-rqqh-3gvh
8.8
CVSS 3.1 · Vendor: TuranSec
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Attack ChainAIDerived

Hypothetical attack flow derived from CVE metadata – not a confirmed exploit chain

  1. Access
    Obtain staff-level CiviCRM credentials
  2. Delivery
    Authenticate to CiviCRM web interface
  3. Exploit
    Submit crafted RLIKE payload in contact search
  4. Execution
    SQL injection executes against backend database
  5. Impact
    Exfiltrate donor, member, and organizational records

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 a valid CiviCRM staff-level (authenticated, low-privileged) account - anonymous or unauthenticated access is insufficient. The vulnerable code path is the contact search feature's RLIKE clause, meaning the attacker must have access to that search functionality within the CiviCRM interface. No special non-default configuration is required; the contact search feature is part of CiviCRM's standard functionality. The primary limiting factor is the need for authenticated access: an organization with strong account lifecycle management, MFA enforcement on staff accounts, and minimal staff account provisioning will significantly reduce exposure. The vulnerability does not require any specific CiviCRM extension, plugin, or configuration mode to be active.

Impact

The CVSS 3.1 vector AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H scores 8.8 and accurately reflects the threat model: network-accessible, low complexity, requiring only low-privileged (staff-level) authentication, with high impact across confidentiality, integrity, and availability. The PR:L rating is the critical limiting factor - exploitation is constrained to authenticated staff accounts, not anonymous users. No EPSS score was provided in the source data, and this CVE is not listed in the CISA KEV catalog, meaning active exploitation in the wild is not confirmed. No public proof-of-concept code was identified in the supplied references. Despite the absence of confirmed exploitation, the low attack complexity and the sensitivity of CiviCRM databases - which routinely hold donor financial records, member PII, and organizational contact lists - mean any organization running an affected version should treat this as urgent regardless of size.

Exploit ScenarioDerived

An attacker with a valid staff-level CiviCRM account - obtained through credential theft, phishing, or insider access - navigates to the contact search interface and submits a crafted RLIKE value that breaks out of the intended query context and appends a UNION SELECT or stacked query to extract arbitrary table contents. Because attack complexity is low and no special configuration is required beyond having a staff account, the attacker can systematically dump donor records, financial data, and member PII from the database. No public proof-of-concept has been identified at the time of analysis, but the vulnerability class is well-understood and trivially exploitable by anyone with basic SQL injection knowledge.

This Week Schedule remediation this week. Why: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9).
No patch listed yet 0.2% exploitation probability (EPSS)

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AnalysisAIv1 – Aug 11, 2026

SQL injection in CiviCRM through version 6.18.alpha1 allows authenticated staff-level users to exfiltrate the entire backend database via the contact search RLIKE clause. The vulnerability arises because user-supplied input is concatenated directly into the SQL query without sanitization, satisfying CWE-89. Sensitive records including donor, member, and organizational data are exposed to any user holding staff-level credentials. No public exploit or CISA KEV listing has been identified at the time of analysis, though the low exploitation complexity elevates real-world risk.

RemediationAI

No vendor-released patched version has been identified in the provided data - the GitHub repository at https://github.com/civicrm/civicrm-core should be monitored for a tagged release addressing this issue. Until a patch is available, organizations should restrict staff-level account creation and audit existing staff accounts, removing any accounts that do not require contact-search access. As a compensating control, deploying a web application firewall (WAF) rule to block RLIKE-based payloads in contact search parameters can reduce automated exploitation risk, though sophisticated attackers may bypass WAF rules. Database activity monitoring should be enabled to detect anomalous bulk SELECT queries originating from the CiviCRM application user. Restricting the CiviCRM database user's privileges to only the tables and operations strictly necessary (principle of least privilege) will limit the blast radius of a successful injection.

Affected VersionsENISA

CiviCRM 0 ≤6.18.alpha1

Affected Packages

euvd civicrm no fix

Source: OSV (Open Source Vulnerabilities)

Affects your stack

Affects 1 package in euvd

Checking this CVE against your own stacks and servers is part of the Basic plan and up.

Technical ContextAI · show details

CiviCRM is an open-source constituent relationship management (CRM) platform widely used by nonprofits, NGOs, and civic organizations. The affected component is the contact search feature, which constructs a SQL RLIKE (regular expression LIKE) clause by concatenating unsanitized user input directly into the query string. This violates the principle of parameterized queries and is the canonical CWE-89 (Improper Neutralization of Special Elements used in an SQL Command) failure mode. The CPE string cpe:2.3:a:civicrm:civicrm:*:*:*:*:*:*:*:* confirms all CiviCRM application deployments through 6.18.alpha1 are affected, regardless of operating system or deployment environment. The underlying database engine is not specified but CiviCRM supports MySQL/MariaDB, where RLIKE maps to REGEXP, making the injection surface well-understood.

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Severity by source

Vendor (TuranSec) PRIMARY 8.8 HIGH
AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
vuln.today AI 8.8 HIGH

Network-accessible contact search requires only staff credentials (PR:L); unsanitized concatenation makes exploitation low-complexity with full database read/write impact.

3.1 AV:N/AC:L/PR:L/UI:N/S:U/C:H/I:H/A:H
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 (TuranSec).

CVSS VectorVendor: TuranSec

Attack Vector
Network
Attack Complexity
Low
Privileges Required
Low
User Interaction
None
Scope
Unchanged
Confidentiality
High
Integrity
High
Availability
High

DescriptionCVE.org

An SQL injection vulnerability in CiviCRM through 6.18.alpha1 allows authenticated staff to read the entire database via the contact search RLIKE clause. The clause concatenates a user-supplied value into the SQL query without sanitization. An attacker with staff-level access can exfiltrate all database contents including donor and member records.

Executive ViewAI

Why It Matters

CiviCRM versions through 6.18.alpha1 contain a SQL injection vulnerability in the contact search functionality that allows authenticated staff-level users to exfiltrate the complete backend database, including sensitive donor, member, and organizational records. No vendor patch is currently available, elevating insider risk and creating exposure for any organization with CiviCRM staff users. Immediate access controls and database monitoring are required to prevent unauthorized data exfiltration.

Business Impact: High
Compensating Controls

No vendor-released patch identified at time of analysis. Interim mitigations include: (1) restrict or disable staff access to the contact search feature where business requirements permit; (2) implement database activity monitoring with alerts for suspicious SQL patterns; (3) revoke unnecessary staff-level database permissions and enforce read-only access for non-sensitive data; (4) enable comprehensive database audit logging with archival and access controls; (5) implement network segmentation to isolate the CiviCRM database from general staff network access; (6) conduct privileged access review and immediately revoke inactive or transferred staff credentials.

Threat Intelligence Overview

EPSS Score
0.2%
Top 85% exploitable
Prevalence
Medium
widely used by nonprofits and NGOs globally, not general enterprise
Data Quality
7 sources
Confidence: High
EUVD NVD CVE.org EPSS Vulnrichment GitHub VulDB

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.

SignalValue
Severity HIGH
CISA KEV No
Public POC No
EPSS 0.2%
Patch available No
Active threat No
Deciding rule
HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9)
What every action level means
Emergency Immediate action required. Criteria: CRITICAL + in CISA KEV (actively exploited) without patch, OR CRITICAL + EPSS > 30% without patch, OR CRITICAL + active threat signals without patch.
Act Now Prioritize within 24-48h. Criteria: in KEV with patch available, OR CRITICAL + public POC, OR HIGH + EPSS > 10%, OR CRITICAL + active threat, OR any CRITICAL severity.
This Week Schedule remediation this week. Criteria: HIGH severity (CVSS 7.0-8.9). Patch within normal change window.
This Month Plan within 30 days. Criteria: MEDIUM severity (CVSS 4.0-6.9), lower exploitation probability. Include in regular patch cycle.
Monitor Track and reassess. Criteria: LOW severity (CVSS 0.1-3.9), minimal exploitation risk. No immediate action needed.

SSVC AssessmentENISA

SSVC Decision
Scheduled
Exploitation
None
System Exposure· derived
Open
Automatable
No
Human Impact
High
Technical Impact
Total

Priority Score

44
Low Medium High Critical
KEV: 0
EPSS: 0
CVSS: +44
PoC: 0
Weaponized: 0
Threat intel: 0
Gov advisory: 0

Attack Technique

SQL injection exploits the way applications construct database queries by mixing user input directly into SQL statements.

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