Description
WordPress before 2.6.2 does not properly handle MySQL warnings about insertion of username strings that exceed the maximum column width of the user_login column, and does not properly handle space characters when comparing usernames, which allows remote attackers to change an arbitrary user's password to a random value by registering a similar username and then requesting a password reset, related to a "SQL column truncation vulnerability." NOTE: the attacker can discover the random password by also exploiting CVE-2008-4107.
Fixed in Linux distributions
Distributions backport fixes, so the version that fixes this vulnerability differs per release — upgrade to at least the version shown. From the distributions' security trackers and advisories.
Debian
Security tracker ↗| Release | Package | Fixed in | Advisory |
|---|---|---|---|
| Debian 14 | wordpress | 2.5.1-8 | — |
| Debian 13 | wordpress | 2.5.1-8 | — |
| Debian 12 | wordpress | 2.5.1-8 | — |
| Debian 5.0 | wordpress | 2.5.1-11+lenny1 | DSA-1871-1 |
| Debian 4.0 | wordpress | 2.0.10-1etch4 | DSA-1871-2, DSA-1871-1 |
Advisories 2
- DSA-1871-2 wordpress - regression fix Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
- DSA-1871-1 wordpress - several vulnerabilities Debian Security (DSA / DLA) · Mar 9, 2026
References
- 31737 third-party-advisory
- 6421 exploit
- [oss-security] 20080916 Re: CVE request: wordpress < 2.6.2 mailing-list
- http://www.suspekt.org/2008/08/18/mysql-and-sql-column-truncation-vulnerabilities/
- ADV-2008-2553 vdb-entry
- 6397 exploit
- DSA-1871 vendor-advisory
- [oss-security] 20080911 CVE request: wordpress < 2.6.2 mailing-list
- http://www.sektioneins.de/advisories/SE-2008-05.txt
- 4272 third-party-advisory
- 31068 vdb-entry
- 31870 third-party-advisory
- 20080911 Advisory 05/2008: Wordpress user_login Column SQL Truncation Vulnerability mailing-list
- 1020869 vdb-entry
- FEDORA-2008-7902 vendor-advisory
- FEDORA-2008-7760 vendor-advisory
- http://wordpress.org/development/2008/09/wordpress-262/