Attack Vectors

CVE-2025-31526 is a medium-severity SQL Injection vulnerability (CVSS 6.5) affecting the Behance Portfolio Manager WordPress plugin (slug: portfolio-manager-powered-by-behance) in versions 1.7.5 and earlier.

The attack requires a logged-in WordPress account with at least Contributor permissions (or higher). That means the most realistic risk comes from compromised contributor credentials, an insider threat, or any workflow where external contributors are granted site access (e.g., agencies, freelancers, interns, or multi-author editorial teams). No user interaction is required once the attacker is authenticated.

Security Weakness

The issue is caused by insufficient escaping of a user-supplied parameter and lack of sufficient preparation on an existing SQL query. In practical terms, this can allow an authenticated attacker to append additional SQL to database queries.

According to the published advisory, the vulnerability can be used to extract sensitive information from the database. This aligns with the CVSS vector indicating High confidentiality impact (C:H), even though integrity and availability impacts are not indicated (I:N/A:N).

Remediation: Update Behance Portfolio Manager to version 1.8.0 or newer, which contains the patch.

Technical or Business Impacts

If exploited, this vulnerability could expose sensitive data stored in your WordPress database. Depending on what your site stores, that may include user account details, email addresses, content drafts, operational metadata, and other information that can be used for follow-on attacks (such as phishing, account takeover attempts, or competitive intelligence).

For marketing leaders and executives, the business impact is typically larger than the technical fix: potential brand damage, loss of customer trust, and incident response costs (forensics, legal review, and communications). For compliance teams, a data exposure event may trigger reporting obligations depending on the jurisdictions and data types involved.

Because the attacker only needs Contributor-level access, organizations with multiple authors or third-party contributors should treat this as a meaningful risk. A single compromised contributor password can become a pathway to database data exposure.

Similar Attacks

SQL Injection has a long history of being used to access or expose sensitive database information. Examples include:

Drupal “Drupalgeddon” (CVE-2014-3704) — a widely exploited SQL injection vulnerability that enabled unauthorized access and data compromise on vulnerable sites.
TalkTalk (UK ICO enforcement action) — a high-profile breach case in which SQL injection was a key factor discussed in regulatory findings.

Reference: CVE-2025-31526 and advisory details from Wordfence.